It’s The System, Stupid

Call it what you will, justify it all you want, when you get a pink slip (even when it’s printed on white paper) it will still feel like you aren’t good enough. It will feel like all of your work has been for nothing. Those late nights you stayed to get the last little bit finished? Meaningless. Those hours that you poured over material for tomorrow, making sure everything is perfect and ready? Insignificant. All the lunch hours you didn’t eat in favor of staying at your job to help out those people that desperately needed your help? You should have gone to SubWay. All the time you wish you could have spent with your family, but instead was spent with papers and a red pen, grading, evaluating, and editing work? Apparently, you made the wrong decision. All of that work you’ve done and time you’ve spent making yourself a better, more professional, more effective teacher, all that time was sent down the drain because you may not be working here anymore and your efforts aren’t acknowledged. We don’t care about what you’ve done. It’s not important.