it's true.
from 4th January 2012 (the new term after the winter holidays), i will no longer be a teacher.
after a year and a half, the time has come for me to say goodbye to the most amazing experience of my life.
i am really happy to tell all of you that the financial problems my family was facing have lifted and therefore there is no need for me to work to support them anymore. i can now fully concentrate on my education and build up a future the way i want it. i can finally turn all my dreams and aspirations and ambitions into something real.
the decision to resign was an extremely difficult one. it took much
contemplation and debating with myself to reach the conclusion that if i
want good grades, i must leave the one thing that takes up most of my
time. i'm not saying that teaching is getting in the way. it's just that i have my entire life ahead of me to work and earn a living; right now is the correct age to study and learn and educate myself - to be like every teenager should be - and i am going to seize this opportunity before it eludes me again.
i have mixed feelings about my resignation, though. i have become SO attached to my students. they are - and always will be - a very important part of my life. they have given me tonnes of joy and happiness, they have showed me a wonderful world filled with innocence and pure affection. to leave them in the middle of the school year is absolutely heartbreaking for me, but i know that this is one sacrifice i need to make in order to secure my own future. i have given up a lot in the past for my family. i have experienced life with crushed dreams. now that i am getting what i have always wanted, i feel like i truly deserve it and i must let go of my job so that i can focus on studying and making up for all the time lost.
telling my colleagues about my decision was totally tough. a few of them teared up a little (aww!) and i got loads of rib-cracking hugs. The Bully actually told me that she would die without me! :O that made me feel totally special and really guilty at the same time. a lot of my colleagues told me that they'll miss me a whole lot and that they loved working with me. for the most part, they were happy that i would finally be studying properly again.
when i handed in my resignation to the principal of the school, he gave me a big bear hug and told me that once i'm done with university, the school will welcome me back and offer me a totally awesome position whenever i want it. he said he was proud at the fact that i am putting my studies first and that i plan to do my Bachelors in Education (he did his Bachelors and Masters in Education, too).
all in all, this is good for me in the long run. i am and always will be thankful to the school for employing me with my incomplete qualifications and no previous work experience. they have been the kindest and bestest employers ever. i'm also extremely grateful for all the support my blog readers and followers have displayed over the more-than-a-year of my employment (and my not-studying phase). it's really cool how my entire work experience has been documented here on my blog; from my substitution-teacher days to my job interview and appointment letter days to my loooong and tiring working week-days, and finally, my resignation.
i still have the rest of December to spend with my students and colleagues. i will make the most of it and try to accumulate as many special and awesome incidents as i can to share with you guys.
i do feel pretty emotional (read: awfully sad) at the moment. the burden of this big decision hasn't entirely lifted yet, so i would really appreciate some support and love from all of you. i need other people to tell me that i've made the right decision, so that i can continue my journey with freedom from the nagging 'you-didn't-do-the-right-thing' feeling tugging at my heart.
love and hugs (i need some!)
