Janelle Schuurman dreamed of being a teacher ever since she was in kindergarten. After 11 years in the profession, she left to work at Costco Wholesale Corp COST and she's never been happier. Here's a look at what drove her away from school.
What To Know: One of the main reasons Schuurman left her job as an elementary school teacher was because of the work required, according to Business Insider.
Teachers are paid based on a schedule of roughly 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., but they work much more than that. In order to be prepared for class the next day, there's so much work a teacher has to do after they go home for the day.
"The job never ends, honestly," Schuurman said.
"I would typically be at school for 10 to 12 hours a day and then do 20 hours of work per week outside of my contracted hours just to stay on top of things."
Many people think that teachers have it easy because they get to take the summers off, but the same thing happens on breaks, she said. In order to be appropriately prepared for the next school year, teachers have to spend much of their summers planning.
Furthermore, they are pretty left to fend for themselves. Class sizes keep getting bigger and there's no room in school budgets for additional aides. Teachers have to guide 20 to 30 students through the learning process mostly on their own, Schuurman said.
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Not only do they have to make sure that each student is learning and advancing, they also have to look out for each child's safety. With more and more school shootings taking place, it's hard for the teachers themselves to feel safe, let alone make sure all of their students feel safe.
"I never thought I'd be worried about my safety as a teacher — but by the end of my teaching career, I was thinking about my safety and the safety of my students constantly. Every teacher in my school had a walkie-talkie in case they had to call for help. Just knowing that was a possibility was horrifying," Schuurman said.
Teachers also have to deal with parents who think they know better than the teachers. Most of the parents have different opinions and it can be hard to balance all of the different inputs, she said.
At Costco, Schuurman doesn't have to worry about any of this. She's paid fairly, has great benefits and is "much happier," she said. Although she never imagined herself leaving elementary education, Costco was the right choice for her, and similar alternatives could lead other teachers away from their education careers.
"If we want to solve the crisis of not having enough teachers in this country, these things need to change. Otherwise, more teachers might follow in my footsteps and leave their dream careers," Schuurman said.
This story is part of a new series of features on the subject of success, Benzinga Inspire.
Photo: WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay.
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