#71: Taboo Tuesday: Lessons Learned From My Five Month Affair

The routine became mind numbing. The excitement was gone and I was left wanting more...more happiness, more fulfillment, more of everything. I felt empty and somewhat depressed. I prayed for better days but they were far and few in between.

And then the opportunity presented itself for me to test if the grass was greener on the other side. I tried hard to fight the feeling, but the temptation was too great...

...and so I did it...

I cheated on my career in education with a 5-month stint in Corporate America.

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Wait. Hold the phone. You thought I cheated on Ryan?! No ma'am. I wouldn't dare hurt my Snuggle Bug! Naw bruh! A sista just wanted to experience life without grading papers and systems of equations.

It was fun at first. I remember my interview like it was yesterday. Sitting across from the Vice President of the department I would be hired for as he promised me a career that would make me feel like I was making a difference. And there I was, smiling and filled to the brim with the joy of being able to put my business degrees to use. But soon after my start date, I realized that life without extended holiday breaks, longer hours and the absence of a workers' union was not the bee's knees.

No job is perfect. Well, at least not one that I've experienced. All jobs require you to leave the comfort of your bed in the wee hours of the morning, time how fast you can shove your lunch down your throat and limit the number of days you can be ill and still receive pay. Ugh. How dare they do such things?

But there were things that I took for granted about education that Corporate America couldn't replicate. For example, working with children, teenagers to be more specific, is much easier and more fun than working with adults. A kid decides to give you lip or not complete their homework? Just call their parents and notate the conversation for documentation purposes. An adult that refuses to pay their bill on time or to follow the terms and agreement of a contract? Ugh. You have a headache (and possible legal issue) on your hands.

No one should have to work the day before or after Christmas period. I know some people don't know, or choose not to know, that Jesus is the reason for the season, but geez I've never seen the 25th of December disappear so fast as it did this year.

And the never ending paperwork of Corporate America?! Lesson plans ain't got nothing on it! I'd rather grade 100 tests on slope, standard form and equations of lines than to try to correct the mistakes of a $500,000 leasing account with a Fortune 500 Company.

With all that being said, you may be wondering where I am now. Well, that's an easy one. I am safely back in the arms of the one who always had my best interests at heart and took me back despite my transgressions. My Algebra I classroom.