Teaching
I finished my 13th year as a teacher this year, and it was way harder than I expected at this point in my career. When I finished grad school, I was left with a very depressing speech that told me in 5 years, over half of us would no longer be in the profession. I've certainly had points in the last 13 year that I thought that I didn't belong in this job, or that I wanted to do something different. I've been lit on fire, had broken bones and have trauma I haven't even begun to unpack in those 13 years in the classroom. I even tried 9 years ago to leave teaching. The universe had other plans and I've been with my current district for 9 years and for the most part I like what I do. There are parts of my job I'm really good at; seeing the strengths in kids, communicating and collaborating with families, and writing meticulous paperwork. But in other areas this year I felt like a fraud (self doubt voice coming through). As an Autistic person it felt out of sorts ...
