I can't carry on in my job - it's killing me - please advise.?

Question

My teacher training is making me ill. It's taken all over my life and is making me sick. I've no confidence left in my own ability or my own intelligence. I'm so unhappy and can't cope with the thought of going back to school. My relationship with my colleagues is at an all-time low, my relationship with my boyfriend is falling to pieces because of this. I've no energy. I can't sleep at night but I'm tired all day. I just want to run away. I've only got 7 weeks left, which sounds like nothing, but I can't take another day like this. I wish I'd never started - please advise.
ps: I can't get signed-off. If I miss too many days then I'll fail the course.

Answer 1

Seven weeks is a very short period of time, especially if you plan to be teacher when you've finished the course. But if you're in hell then it's seven weeks too long.

Do you plan on being a teacher when this is over? If the answer is yes, go the doctors and get yourself 7 weeks of prozac. Get your head down and get through it.

If you're not planning on being a teacher wave the place goodbye now. Your CV/resume will not suffer for it. You've learned loads of transferable skills and get to say 'By the end of my teacher training I realised this was not a career path I wished to follow.' Taylor your reason why to what ever job you're applying for - if you go for a creative job say teaching wasn't creative enough. I've met loads of people who trained as a teacher then ditched it. It's quite common.

Even though you hate the place make a nice exit, either serve your notice or get a sick note. You may need them for a reference.

My mistake was not getting out of the job that was killing me quickly enough. Three years on I'm still not over it. If you need to go, then go. One door closes, another opens xxx

Answer 2

Hi there,

I really do feel for you. I kind of know what this is like. Has something happened to make you anxious or made you loose your confidence? I think the best idea is firstly go to your advisor of studies and tell them how you feel. Teacher training can be very stressful as you think your under the microscope of the otehr staff in the school and are afraid of doing anything wrong with your teaching methods and pupils can be a handful, so you sound completely stressed. It is probably how so many trainee teachers feel and perhaps your advisor of studies could assist you.

Is teaching really what you want to do?? I worry for you that if you are stressed now that it will continue...i'm sure you worry about that yourself and that is adding to your anxiety. However it's also common for something that we are new to is more nerve wrecking and you could settle into the job over time.

The main priority is your health, stress can have major side effects and it is worrying you could slip into depression. What about going to see your Gp and talk about seeing a counsellor. just to perhaps help you air your concerns and discover what is that is scaring you so much?? I know counselling can seem daunting but it's worth a shot hey?? I myself see a counsellor and i was so surprised what a stranger could tell and see about me and my life...better than I could myself!

You sound like you need help and no degree is worth torturing yourself for. You are obviously an incrediably talented young woman if you have come this far, but perhaps you need a break, time for yourself and to build your confidence back up again? It's nothing to be ashamed off...we all need a break and a helping hand at times.

I wish you the best of luck
please try and seek help

xxx

Answer 3

Sweetie, if you are this upset about it then you really should explore other choices. Maybe go take an aptitude test to see what would be the best career for you.

You just have a few short weeks until its done . Why not investigate other careers while you finish up your classes?Then you will have completed and not feel like you failed because you quit so close to completion.

You never know this degree may help you with the future in whatever field best suits your personality type and your passion. Those who are happy with their careers are the ones who figured out a way to work with what they have a passion for. For everyone else its "just" a job.

I want to share with you something I hope you will remember and try. The easiest way to improve your health is to change the way you think. If your mind is filled with negative thoughts all the time it will cause cascades of all those "fight or flight" response chemicals that trigger all sorts of negative body reactions. So of course your health will suffer . So think positive thoughts , train yourself to replace all those negative things with positive thoughts. It will change your whole life.

Answer 4

Walk away with your head held high. You have obviously realised that this isn't the career you thought it would be.

Teaching is something very different from any other profession. And many people who teach these days, should have realised that it's not for them, and walked away years before.

If you continue, and only one pupil fails because your heart wasn't in the job, then you have failed. Alternatively, if only one pupil succeeds, and becomes an inspired individual because of you, then it would have been worth your effort.

All children have memories of their favourite/best teacher. All teachers have memories of their best/most achieving pupils. Sometimes something special happens. Often it doesn't, but sometimes it does, and would you really want to miss that opportunity for another seven weeks training? Seven weeks in your life, may well make a major difference in someone else's life, might even form their entire life. Could possibly even change your life too. Even Einstein had teachers.

Answer 5

You figured out the problem early on. It has taken over your life. It should be only that part of your life that has to do with your career.

Almost everybody has had jobs that were bad for us and we knew we had to get out. Is that what your experience is telling you? There is no shame in stopping what you are doing, but I would advise you to think about why you got involved in this training to begin with. It may help to look at the big picture, and say that you wanted to do this for this reason, or these reasons.

If you're still undecided at that point, do what you can to grit it out for what will surely be the longest 7 weeks of your life. (Good news: it can only get better from there!) At least you will have completed this and have more options. Then you can decide what you want to do afterwards and regain your energy.

Your self-esteem should take a boost just because you're looking for a practical solution. Good luck to you!

Answer 6

I feel your pain. I think what you should do is just go through with the 7 weeks because it really isn't much. Once you are finished, you will feel accomplished. You do not want to waste all those days that you have already completed. Once you're done, you're done. If you no longer want to be a teacher, pursue something else, but since you've already gotten this far, you should just get to the end. Maybe the whole teaching thing will get better. If not, do something else. But teaching will always be something you can fall back on, because now you've completed the course. I don't know much about teacher training, but just think positively. You'll get through it. I have sympathy for you.

Answer 7

Boy you need to note down exactly every time you made a mistake while training, every time you didn't do what you were supposed to do and correct that and every time you should have been working to achieve your top results and you knew you fell short.

All of these things plus the fact of you not clearing up your key words about your profession will be killing you unless you clean them up.

The major thing you will walk away with if you decide to leave is the fact that you are now a failure where you just didn't put the determination there strong enough to do the best you possibly could.

Clean up your act and you'll be a success no matter the profession you end up staying with.

Answer 8

OK i understand the problem. The one thing in your favour is that you have a termination point. You know that in seven weeks you can quit this course in life that is making you sick.

Not that it is much help to you but many people are trapped in jobs and careers that are killing them and they can see no way out.

My advice is to get some help from your doctor so that you can stand the stresses until the finish date. After you have finished, it is at that time that you need to take some time and look at where you want to go.

Explain to your boyfriend, who should be supporting you, what you are going to do and if he doesn't want to support you then let him go as he wouldn't support you when there is an ongoing life crisis.

Most of the symptoms you describe are stress related. you will have to deal with this. stress is a killer. go on a course to learn how to better cope with stress. in the meantime see your doctor and get some help at least until you have finished the course.

One thing is not to deliberately fail the course or you will end up kicking yourself for the rest of your very long life. If you pass it you at least have that success to point to in the future.

Answer 9

your college should have a counselor for such as this. Call and make an appointment and tell them it's urgent. Tell the counselor all of this, and hopefully he or she will know how to help you. You seem to have depression and anxiety. You may need to take a break from school and go back next year or next semester to finish, even if you have to take a failing grade this time.
Please do this for your health.
Your brain needs time to rest and reorganize. Maybe you don't want to be a teacher after all. What are your life interests? Look for a job or training in that area. What in life do you like to do even if you don't get paid for it? That's your answer to your choice of profession.

Answer 10

Could be that you are just burnt out and need a break, or that the stress of school is just taking it's toll on up.

Either way, the symptoms you described (no energy, can't cope, can't sleep, just want to run away), sounds like depression. I would suggest talking to your Dr. or other professional about what is going on, and they should be able to suggest a suitable treatment for you to help you get through the rest of the school year.