Gregory Morgan, M.Ed.
I taught for fifteen years. Then I left, and it worked out — which is not the same thing as saying it will work out for you.
All fifteen of those years were at the same high school. I taught engineering, robotics, computer science, CAD, and 3D printing, which meant I spent a lot of time troubleshooting equipment that had decided to stop working four minutes before a class arrived. That turned out to be more transferable than anything else I did.
I prepared for the transition financially before I made it. I saved and invested deliberately for years, and by the time I was seriously considering leaving, the spreadsheet said I was fine. I was still scared. That gap between "I can afford this" and "this feels safe" is where the book starts.
I resigned before I had another job lined up. I do not recommend that to everyone, and I would probably do it again.
You have no idea how many doors you cannot see from this room.
Chapter 12, The First Year After
What happened next
Eventually I had two real options: full-time virtual teaching at significantly lower pay, or a technical role in additive manufacturing at substantially higher pay in an industry I had never worked in. I took the unfamiliar one.
The first role involved supporting industrial 3D printers, including for customers producing medical implant parts from titanium. I was, for a while, very clearly the new guy — the humbling version, where people explain an acronym to you using two more acronyms. Being a beginner again at that stage of a career is unpleasant for about a month and then genuinely enjoyable.
That job was not my final destination. It was the right first bridge, which is a different and more useful thing.
What I'm not
I am not a financial adviser, an investment adviser, an accountant, or a medical professional, and I don't hold any of those licenses. I'm not a career coach and I don't take coaching clients.
I'm a former teacher who made this decision carefully, wrote down what I learned, and would like the next person to make fewer expensive mistakes than they otherwise would.
What I actually enjoy talking about
Career change. Personal finance and investing. Health and exercise. Not as a service, and not as advice — as conversation. I like helping people think through their own options and land on better questions than the ones they started with.
If that's you, reach out. I always love to help where I can.
The book
Everything above, worked out properly: the money, the pension, the insurance, the skills, the search, the exit, and the year that followed.