This was the first day of school in over a decade that I was not greeting a new set of students.

How did it feel you ask? Kind of glorious to be honest, but mostly bittersweet.

When you spend year after year setting up a classroom then teaching, nurturing, evaluating, etc – and then you decide it’s time for another chapter in your life to begin, you really reflect on the countless hours of work and preparation you put in.

Was it worth it? Sure. Did I love it? At the time, yes. Do I regret leaving? No.

It was definitely time for me to make a change. Don’t get me wrong – leaving an amazing staff was tough, but I knew I needed to move on. If I had gone back into the classroom this year I anticipate I would have burned myself out long before March – the usual time of year when burnout for me occurs.

This September marks a change in my life, a welcome one. Maybe in a few years I’ll return to the classroom, refreshed from making that necessary change. We’ll see.

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