So I think this is the right place to share my story. I'm a teacher in an elementary school. I'm at a loss of what to do with my current situation. I have worked at this place for the better part of 5 years and I did honestly love my job. However, I had a major health event happen in 2020 that I had to seek treatment for. I was gone during the 2020 school year to recover, I had no idea what my colleagues had to endure. Upon my return in 21/22 school year I had one of the hardest years of my time there, teacher and assistants leaving without notice, admin struggling to find people who will stay and finish the year and students acting like wild animals. Stressful is an understatement. I struggled to survive a life threatening illness to return to on of the most stressful environments I have ever worked in. I felt as though I was in survival mode all over again. I also thought that all of this was a result of the pandemic. Kids in elementary are in a very important place as far as development of social skills is concerned, so I understood the behaviors. People who got sick were out on quarantine, so I understood the stress of picking up slack in that area. Admin struggling to find people who are willing to work in these conditions and are willing to take teacher pay, it was a god damn miracle when someone took the position and stayed longer than two days. It's all rebound from the pandemic I told myself. Next won't be that bad. Well… two weeks in and here I am on Reddit stuck between a rock and a hard place. We had people who started the year and they started dropping like flies as the days passed. Admin is trying to find people, they to schedule interviews and have a full day ready to go through candidates but only one or two show. Meanwhile the teachers are stretched to the max and feel like they are drowning. It's like a repeat of last year, I don't know if I can do that again. I'm came home a couple of days crying…. not just a whimper but ugly cry. I can feel the black dog of depression hanging over me. I want to leave, I don't want to be in education anymore, but I have guilt of leaving my colleagues and the kids. I want to stick it out for the year…. but at this rate I don't know how much longer I will last. I want to leave on good terms with my boss for the references…. I'm not a burn bridges kind of lady. I have no idea what to do after ward. Either way I am certain this my last year as an educator.