Teach. Counsel. Repeat

Leaving a role doesn’t always mean leaving the work. Sometimes it means leaving the environment that made the work harder than it needed to be.

What stays with me is realizing that growth doesn’t always look like pushing through, it sometimes looks like paying attention to where you can actually breathe. I appreciate you being here and taking a moment to sit with something that isn’t always easy to name.

For a while, I didn’t quite know how to talk about this change, even with people I trust. Moving from counseling into teaching can look confusing from the outside. There was a pay cut. A title change. And an unspoken question I could feel hanging in the air: Why would you leave counseling after working so hard to get there?

I asked myself the same thing.

Was I walking away from something I was supposed to stick out?
Was I giving up too soon?
Was I failing to “push through” the way we’re often taught we should?

What made it complicated wasn’t the students or the work. I realized how much energy I was spending just trying to survive the environment I was in.

At some point, I stopped asking whether I could keep going and started asking whether I was meant to keep going there.

I really do believe God places us where we’re meant to be even if we don’t agree with His plan in the moment. I also believe that calling doesn’t always stay fixed to one role or one title forever. Sometimes it moves. Sometimes it quiets for a season. Sometimes it shows up differently than we expected.

Do I still feel called to counseling? I think I do.
But I don’t think I’m called to it right now.

Right now feels like a season to notice where my strengths are actually supported instead of constantly stretched thin.

One thing I didn’t expect was how connected I would feel in this space.

I feel more connected to students. I feel more connected to parents, too, because the conversations feel more honest and collaborative. And maybe most importantly, I feel more connected to myself, because I’m not constantly operating in a state of depletion.

I’m still helping students, advocating, listening, supporting, and problem-solving.

The difference is that I’m doing it in an environment that allows me to show up fully, instead of asking me to run on empty.

Making Peace With the change

What helped me most was letting go of the idea that growth always looks like staying.

Instead, I was forced to think about:

• Where do I feel most aligned with the work?
• Where am I supported, not just needed?
• Where can I do meaningful work without losing myself in the process?

For now, the answers keep pointing here.

This shift doesn’t feel like abandoning a calling. It feels more like trusting that callings unfold and that sometimes the work stays the same, even when the setting changes.

If something in your life or work no longer fits the way it once did, that doesn’t automatically mean you’re quitting or giving up. Sometimes it means you’re paying attention.

For me, this transition has been less about becoming someone new and more about choosing a place where I can be myself without constantly bracing for burnout.

I’m sharing this as I continue learning what it means to work in spaces that support both students and educators. If this resonated, you’re welcome to subscribe and read along as I keep writing through these reflections.