Teaching Is Not A Flexible Job
Each morning, as soon as I wake up my eyes are already looking for what the time is. I am more scared of 7:30 than any other hour of the day. Sometimes I skip meals just to meet up in order not to go late to work. Imagine waking up with tension from Mondays to Fridays each week and there's nothing you can do about it, LOL.
Teaching is one of the most stressful jobs with tight and rigid rules that I have ever taken in my life. Whatever one does in that field is highly regulated.
One's going to the right or to the left is entirely directed by the authority, as a teacher you don't have the right to do anything you feel like doing without the approval of the authority.
Even if you are sick and wish to take some time to rest and recover, the authority has to be aware of it and grant you that liberty first, or else any decision you make is at your own risk.
I remember a time when I had an urgent assignment in one of the local governments in my States that demands my presence.
I knew how strict my proprietress was, so I went to her office two days before the day I was to travel to plead for permission. Prior to that time, I had been very faithful and dedicated to my work and had never taken permission to be absent from school.
But my boss was not willing to let me have that day off to attend to the task I had. I pleaded with her and made her understand the relevance of the assignment and she finally gave in.
Before I traveled, I came to school to report that morning. I left around 10:00 am just to ensure that everything was okay with my students before I left.
When I finished what I had to do that day, it was already 12' o'clock and the journey back home was almost an hour. There was no way I was going to come back to work because our closing time was 2:00 pm. I was also exhausted so I just went home straight and came to work the next day.
Do you know that my proprietress scolded me like a little child for not coming back to school? I was so surprised. Which organization doesn't grant permission for a day off? It's not as if I left without her consent. I was so disappointed in her but I didn't utter a negative word, I apologized and left.
It was after that day, the need to become independent began to dawn on me. As long as you will work under someone, don't expect the work to be flexible for you.
You strictly have to abide by rules and regulations that will inconvenience you and counter your desires. The only work that can grant flexibility to the maximum is the work that you are in charge of.
If you are the boss, you can do things your own way and be responsible for the outcomes but if you will be under someone forget about flexibility unless you are a freelancer.
Honestly, I wish I could change certain things in my work but I can't for now, probably when I establish myself to some extent I can finally achieve it.
