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Not in love with my job
24/f
How do you know when you find a job that is the right fit for you? I originally wanted to be a counselor but because I didn't get into graduate school the first semester (I applied late and didn't get into the top 2 schools in the U.S.), I gave up and decided to go into teaching. Part of me thinks I went the easy route because I wanted a career instead of a "job."
I'm not happy with teaching. My first year I taught special education but I didn't like it, I decided to go into a general education setting. This job is harder but on a different aspect. I was told not to "jump ship" yet and to give it a chance before quitting.
Don't get me wrong, I love my students, but I don't love my job. I am not inspired to be there. I wake up dreading to go to work. I consistently hear about teachers or other people talking about how their job feels natural to them. What do I do? Do I give it time and WAIT until I fall in love with my job? Should I go back and pursue counseling (there's a "what if" on the back of my mind), what should I do?
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Do whatever you love. At least give it a try. We only live once. you don't want you to be thinking in future that 'what if i would have quit this job' , 'what if , i have strength to go for my ambition rather then this stupid mindless job'. Yes it is hard to do such thing. But no harm in trying. If it didn't workout you can always come back to this again.
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My brother in laws friend always came to Thanksgiving dinner and each year we asked what he was studying now in school. With him, he had as much a hard time discovering what vocation was cut out for him. He got degrees, started a job and didn't like it, made a guess at what he thought he might like next and went back to school. While in school, he totally changed his degree he went after 3 times I think. I felt bad for him so I know how frustrated you must be. This is years later and I am now getting closer to retirement and looking back, I realize that I didn't have any idea of what to study in college and never went. I wish there was a course or college prep class that helps a person to discover what their passions are and get a clue that way. In tests I took to see where I had more interest at my local college, I did not score higher on one thing but the same on 4 of 5 basic fields of work with differing jobs within each. Since I didn't score high enough to have a clue, I gave up. Now I have learned that I have the interests in life that I have because of what my passions are. So to give you an idea of what I am talking about, what I mean is to ask yourself: What things can I do that I can't get enough of doing it, where I get so totally absorbed, the time just flies, where I feel a satisfaction from what I do. Now here is my own life example of that to give you a better picture. I found I loved raising my kids and enjoyed children in general, I love gardening and I love all sorts of crafts. It's hard to analyse yourself so my 2nd husband helped out and told me that he saw me as a nurturing person and creative person. Those two things are what drive me to want to do the things I do. For example, I got to do lots of crafts with the kids, I could use my creativity in gardening and yard art but nurturing was what made me so comfortable and happy being a mom, nurturing comes out in growing plants too, taking care of them so they grow well and you might say that even if some do not like what I write, the reason I am volunteering so much here in Advicenators, is again due to my nurturing side where I like to help people to discover how to make better decisions for their life, in that way, helping others lives to grow more happy and successful and fulfilling. Thats a lot of back story but I wanted you to keep that in mind for yourself.
Reality is that the great majority of people, whether those with degrees or not, are working jobs that they do not really enjoy, it just serves to bring in an income. Those who are enjoying their jobs and don't mind it, or even get great satisfaction and look forward to their day, well...those people are very few. You will be told by many to just stick with it. However, you did say you find yourself dreading to go to work and to me that it the polar opposite of being passionate about your work. Finding a job you don't mind that falls somewhere in the middle in a more likely thing to happen and I still think knowing what drives you, what you are passionate about already in hobbies, activities, concepts, etc that capture your attention is a good place to start in analyzing what vocation may be a better fit for you. Lets say you like hiking. That does not mean you are stuck being a search and rescue worker or a guide at a National park. But take apart that one thing hiking, and what goes into it. Hikers have a love of the outdoors, they like doing something physical and athletic, they enjoy beautiful scenery, maybe even enjoy learning and know all the flora and fauna (plants and animals).
So you try to think of jobs that take you outdoors, that require being physical for example. ANd then you come up with a list of jobs where those qualities are needed. From that list, you determine how plentiful any of those jobs are to get in the first place and how much you can earn at them, and whether you need to get schooling to do that job. I used to do mostly clerical office work and it was okay. It never had any real bad moments and there were days I felt I had accomplished a lot and helped many people who called in for help in getting a claim started. And I could feel proud of myself at the end of the day. It helped that I really enjoyed my coworkers and boss in our little department. You don't get to interact with your coworkers, other teachers, just kids all day. I know I've answered you before but now you are being honest enough with us so it helps to know that you 'dread' your job. It doesnt mean you intend to do a bad job at teaching but of the teachers I've known either my own or some of my childrens teachers, there were great ones, so so ones and really bad ones. I've bet you can already figure out which ones had a passion for it, were okay with it but not passionate and those who hated their job and it was just income. The latter are teachers who do a disservice to the children. Children like adults, can sense things that our regular senses don't pick up and if the teacher has no joy for his/her job, then the student are not as excited or inspired to learn.
Plus, the amount of mental stress on yourself if dreading a daily job is not going to be good for your health in the long run. You can probably get by for a while but after years and years of doing something that is so stressful to you, it will take its toll on you physically. The stress has to go somewhere and it slowly goes into your body and attacks an area in which your particular body type tends to be prone to have medical issues or weaknesses if not taking proper care of yourself. We tend to forget about stress being able to do such things because its not an immediate disease that pops up the 3rd week of a job. It takes years but can be major like stomach ulcers, cancer, heart issues. So I can tell you right now that it is NOT a matter of waiting over time to see if you'll fall in love with your job. You are a unique person but teaching or nurturing may not be part of who you are. And theres no reason to feel theres anything wrong with you because you may lack enjoyment of your vocation as the others seem to have. I have one daughter who is a natural nurturing mom and the oldest is not at all and there is nothing, even parenting classes that can force her to become something that she never in life will be. Don't force yourself to do something that you have such a strong negative reaction to. YOu may find a vocation that is okay but not that you are passionate about and that is the kind of job that most have and it is very possible to navigate such a vocation without harm to yourself or any dire effect on any others you interact with.
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There is an old say , "If you love your job you will never work a day in your life." It sounds to me like you are working very hard at a job you are not in love with. That makes for a very stressful work environment for you that you may unknowingly take out on your students in any number of different ways. You could be too strict or too lenient. You may not be as accessible as a teacher in the grade you teach needs to be and other ways.
I cannot tell you if you should change jobs of careers. What I can do is what I have done above id point out what being unhappy in a position might be effecting your performance which also adds to the stress.
I will also point out something else; how sure are you of the change you want to make? What is it about being a Counselor that attracts you. What type of Counselor do you want to be. Where I live in order to be a psychologist the state requires a PHD others require a Masters degree in psychology. Social Workers also require certain degrees in Social work. Generally a BS Degree will not qualify you for the position you are thinking of. Again depending on where you live and where you intend to practice you will need some form of advanced degree.
Certainly your undergraduate degree in education and your courses for your license will help in credits needed for the advanced degree. Still depending on what is required to practice you may need to invest two to five years in full time study.
My niece is a special education teacher. While she finds it very rewarding it can also be very frustrating. She chose special education even though she is a whiz at math and could be a high school math teacher. Public school teaching is not every teachers bailey wick. There are other parts of teaching and education that are just as rewarding and challenging as being in the classroom. Another possibility is teaching in a private school or Boarding School total different environment from public school.
I guess what I'm trying to say is look before you jump. Your teaching degree can serve you well in the corporate world as an instructor for different things companies need instructors for.
Look at the bird in hand and the opportunities it provides and those of the two in the bush.
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