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When I decided to be a high school English teacher, I thought it was something I would do until my glory days. But then I started wondering if I should quit my career.
I enjoyed interacting with my students and seeing the excitement in their faces when we made new discoveries in class. Watching them progress and get better every day was a worthwhile journey. But somewhere along the line, I lost my passion and fulfillment, and I figured I'd be happy doing something else.
At the beginning of 2022, I faced a health scare that put me out of my classroom for two months. I had a ruptured appendix that led to a stomach infection.
The experience helped me put many things in perspective. I realized that as much as I loved my students and didn't want to walk away from them, I didn't enjoy teaching as much.
I had to spend a lot of time on my feet, and even prepping for lessons started feeling like more of a chore.
I was no longer motivated. However, I had to push my feelings to the side because my wife stayed home with the kids and we relied on my income to get by. I went back to teaching after recovery, but it was easy for those around me to notice that I was no longer "the same."
I hit my breaking point over a year and a half later. After a long teaching session, the school principal summoned me to his office to discuss a foreign teacher program where I was chosen to represent the school in Canada, which meant I would be away from my family for six to 12 months.
I remember going home feeling hopeless and defeated. I was already working long hours, and I couldn't handle any more on my plate. I shared my disappointment with my wife who told me to follow my heart and do what made me happy.
I had heard about freelance writing but never knew how to turn it into a profitable opportunity. I stayed up all night researching and reading stories on how other writers were making a living writing.
I realized it was possible to write profitably, but I needed to find a starting point. First, I had to pick a niche,e which was easy to do as I enjoyed writing about technology.
Many publications were accepting tech articles, and I got busy writing my first 10 articles on different topics. It took me a bit of time to complete them, but I enjoyed writing so much that it didn't feel like a hard task.
I uploaded the articles to an article-selling site and sold seven of them over time. I then reached out to technology publications with article ideas; some were accepted, and others were rejected. Still, it was the fuel I needed to stay on course.
As soon as I got my foot in the door, I talked to my students and handed in my resignation. It was heartbreaking to leave them behind, but I had to accept that teaching was no longer for me. Walking away made me feel like I could breathe again. I was unburdened.
For a couple of months, we survived on the savings I had accumulated throughout my teaching career. We didn't have a lot of debt, only a car mortgage, so it wasn't as difficult to get by.
We had to make plenty of adjustments, like switching to more affordable schools for our children and cooking at home instead of eating out, but life has been good to me.
I've also faced a number of challenges, like maxing out our savings, receiving late payments, and having unpaid bills, but I'm learning to manage our finances better as I go.
Saving for rainy days is an essential part of the program. Freelance writing gives me the kind of time freedom I only dreamt of. I'm now doing what I love and getting paid to do it.
I envisioned this path for me for years before I had the courage to walk away from my teaching job, and I would choose freelance writing again in a heartbeat.
