In about a week and a half, i will again begin attending graduate classes. I already have a BA in English, a teaching credential in California and in Arizona, and now i will be embarking on my next adventure. I am going to obtain a masters degreee in "community counseling" which means at the end of the two year program i will be able to get a job as a practising therapist.

it's not that i don't love working with kids, or being a teacher, or wearing pencils in my hair instead of chopsticks, but to be honest, teachers aren't paid enough to deal with all the crap they put up with. i was making my college bulletin board and stapling up a calendar meant for college bound juniors and seniors. in the calendar there was a little chart which shows the average salaries of graduates of high school, 2-year college, 4 year university, and graduate school. as an arizona teacher with 6 years experience and a graduate degree, i fall right in between the high school graduate and the junior college experience. arizona is number 49 in the nation in teacher salary and education in general. we are followed only by arkansas. maybe i wouldn't have come to this decision if i had continued to live in california- maybe i would have at some point. everything happens for a reason...

which brings me to the conclusion that smart, young people will see the benefits of jumping careers at a time in their lives when they can still fathom full time school at night. i feel sad to be leaving teaching, this is what i thought i wanted to do. but i'm leaning that i'm so constriced by all the litigation, the lack of administrative support, the poor work conditions and the poorer state of our textbooks, technology, and supplies... I feel i could make a difference elsewhere (not to mention some actual salary... the lowest paid therapist is likely to make more than the highest paid teacher).