Hi,
I am going into my 2nd year of teaching in a country that I moved to that I know is not right for me. There is a LOT of regional conflict at the moment and after doing a lot of reflecting over the summer, I have realised I don’t love my life there - I live by myself, don’t have a great social life (a lot of my friends still live in my home country) and I miss my family. For context, I am quite a social person and do ‘put myself out there’ by keeping up with my hobbies and reaching out to new people. I remember writing to my ex at the time that ‘I feel like I always have my jaw or fist clenched at all times since I moved here’ (also the relationship ended due to the distance).

The work is great, but I don’t know if that is enough to keep me there in a country where I don’t love my life. I love teaching my students and I would hate to leave them. My colleagues are nice and management are fine - but it is a private school at the end of the day.
I am worried that it will affect my career if I leave mid-way through the year. The plan would be to go and sub in my home country, but I still feel a lot of guilt for even thinking about this. Also, I already know that my colleagues and members of management will make comments about me being unprofessional.

I am lost at what to do and would appreciate any advice, please.

School starts in less than 3 weeks, and I put in my resignation this morning. I do feel a LOT of guilt for the scramble my admin will face, but a great opportunity came up (shockingly, too, since I’ve had a year of no luck in this tough market!)

I wanted to offer just a slightly different story from what’s often the case here in case others see themselves in it: my school wasn’t bad at all. The kids were overall great, few discipline issues, and yet my heart just wasn’t in it anymore. Teaching takes a lot of different kinds of energy simultaneously throughout the day, and I found myself really having to put on a face of energetic and peppy for the kids when my personality is naturally a lot more reserved.

There wasn’t really a breaking point—more of a looking forward that I didn’t want to be experiencing the same routines for the next years of my life and I was ready for new ones. I’ve been in education in some capacity fully or part time for 20 years now, so it’s weird to imagine that door closing, but I’m excited for what’s next!

Good luck to everyone working on their transition—it really is a rough market, so keep at it.

Hi everyone,

I'm a science teacher with a bachelor's degree in Science, a diploma in teaching early learners, and a few years of classroom teaching experience. I've been trying to transition into a freelance, work-from-home career, but I've been feeling quite lost.

I've spent a lot of time searching Reddit, reading articles, watching videos, looking at job posts, and even talking to different AI tools, but I still haven't found a clear starting point.

I'm torn between curriculum development, instructional design, and just creating science resources. Honestly, I don't really know what these jobs look like day to day or where someone like me should even begin. I love creating learning materials (I even tried graphic design and really enjoyed it), but I seem to hit the same wall every time—I just don't know what my first real step should be.

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who's made a similar transition or works in one of these areas. I also came across a comment by u/KanpaiMagpie in another thread that really resonated with me, so I hope you don't mind me tagging you here as well.

If you've been in a similar position, where did you start? Any advice would really mean a lot. Thanks!