Making Ends Meet
- ISBN-10
- 1630215287
- ISBN-13
- 9781630215286
- Series
- Making Ends Meet
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2023-02-06
- Author
- Brooke Weston
Description
If there is one thing that the pandemic of 2020 really showed us it is how underappreciated, underrepresented and how underpaid educators are in this country. This story addresses the challenge that many if not all educators have experienced in their careers, the idea that in the grand scheme of the amount of money that they are being paid versus the amount of hours that they put in unfortunately, they are not far from living under the poverty line. Sadly, in some states and some school districts teachers are being paid under the poverty level. Education is often seen as a job of passion. A job where the superheroes are in front of children making a difference daily because it is their dream. This educator is no different. She knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a math teacher. It had been her complete focus her entire life and she lived that dream. But it wasn't until after the tragic loss of her father, her graduation, and her landing her first job, that she really began to understand the financial challenges of teaching. As she sat looking over the amount that was deposited her account from her first month teaching versus the amount of bills she had to pay she realized that her dream job would not allow her to live without getting a secondary income. It was heartbreaking to realize that dedicating over 40 hours in the classroom was not enough. Her passion and love for her students was not enough. Her determination and energy to live life was not enough for her to actually live and enjoy life. She finds herself in the spiral of working multiple jobs to make ends meet, and finally wonders if moving in with her mom would make her happy, content, allow her to be a happy teacher. Unfortunately, this is the story of survival and realizing that sometimes the biggest dreamers must make difficult decisions because they are in a profession that doesn't recognize just how great and important they are.
