Overcoming Workaholism
Finding My True Calling: How I Overcame Burnout and Discovered a New Path in Education
In November 2025, I experienced the most monumental breakdown of my career while working as a kindergarten teacher. For the past six years as a K–12 educator, achieving a healthy work-life balance had been impossible, as I spent up to 50 hours a week working.
The workload was so immense and exhausting that I had to sacrifice my evenings, weekends, week-long holiday breaks, and even the first two weeks of my summer vacation to prepare lessons for the next day, week, and school year. Throughout the years, other teachers expressed concern for me when I began showing signs of burnout.
Burnout began to take a serious toll on my mental and physical health during the 2025–26 school year, particularly from September through November. I experienced lethargy accompanied by numbness in my limbs, minor chest pains, headaches, increased heart palpitations, and frequent colds.
During the 2024–25 school year, I sadly developed a sinus and throat infection that caused me to use paid time off for the first time since the beginning of my career. As a result, my former administrators at both the campus and district levels directed me to take a three-month Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave so I could recover.
While on leave, I underwent two months of group and individual therapy, where I learned valuable coping skills from licensed therapists and psychologists. At home, I spent time walking around the house, journaling my thoughts, communicating openly and frequently with family and close friends, and enjoying quality time with loved ones.
For example, I enjoyed watching daily Spanish game shows with my mother, where we laughed and cheered together. Other calming activities that helped ease my emotional and physical setbacks included enjoying a comforting meal with a warm drink, reading and reflecting on books, articles, and posts, and cuddling with a plush object while wrapped in a soft blanket or sweater.
Additionally, I used humor to help mask emotional triggers. I also learned to prioritize tasks by ranking them in order of importance at work and ending my workday no later than 4:45 p.m. When all of these efforts still were not enough, my former counselor suggested that I resign from teaching, which I ultimately did in February.
After completing and submitting job applications and revising my résumé with the unwavering support and encouragement of the compassionate staff at the Workforce Solutions Center, I received both a recommendation and a job offer to work as an ESL instructor with Adult and Community Education at San Antonio ISD.
This new endeavor became my true calling when I began noticing meaningful improvements in my mother’s English-language skills and received immediate positive feedback on my teaching demonstrations from the recruiting staff at SAISD.
In short, I found happiness after enduring these hardships and realizing that being a K–12 teacher was not the right path for me. Moving forward, I will continue practicing these coping strategies, taking my prescribed medications to lessen emotional triggers, and periodically visiting my psychiatrist and therapist.
