u/Athena_Royale

I’ll be turning 40 soon. If you could go back in time and give your 40 year old version of yourself any advice what would it be?

I’m happily married with 2 kids but just found out that I won’t have a job for next year (art teacher cuts to the district). Trying to figure out a new career at 40.

I was put on paid administrative leave on March 31st almost a month ago. Im a K-8 art teacher and a 5th grade student accused me of throwing/tossing an oil pastel at them and it hitting their shoulder before they caught it. They had a sub that day and the sub wrote down that I “threw something at a student.” I haven’t heard anything back from my union rep that basically told me that I’m in the clear to go back to school except for the fact that the police department never filed the police report and they have to wait for it to move across the PD’s desk before I could come back.

The worst of all of this is the daily uncertainty, anxiety, humiliation, and depression I’ve been suffering from this entire dilema. I’ve barely been sleeping, having nightmares, night sweats, and stressing out hardcore. The more time that passes the worse it feels. There’s only 4 weeks left of school and I’m not even coming back next year because they entirely cut the visual arts program at my campus. I thought this was my forever school and it’s so sad that not only am I on administrative leave, & I’m not coming back next year, but the kids won’t have art class at all. Any words of support and encouragement would be helpful.