After 20 years of teaching, I'm taking a break and trying another job
In my first year of university, I was originally studying Bachelor of Engineering. I studied really hard but my grades were average, so I switched to Bachelor of Computer Science and Bachelor of Education dual degree. Soon after I switched, I obtained the highest grades and got a Dean's Commendation for Academic Excellence award (at the University of Queensland, Australia).
I graduated when I was 22 years old and started teaching straight away. Now I am 42, so I have taught 20 years. You can see a photo from every year of teaching below. They're all staff photos except 2006 was a chess club photo. I was hoping a previous colleague would have a copy of the 2006 staff photo but it seems like nobody has kept their staff photos from close to 20 years ago!
The 2011 photo was a special one. I had forgotten that I had staff photos that day, so I wore a Superman shirt to school. The school even projected this photo up at the students' graduation ceremony at Suncorp stadium to let everyone have a laugh.
Speaking of graduation, my oldest ex students are now 37. I have ex students in many different professions. Doctors, dentists, physiotherapists, lawyers, engineers, pilots, plumbers, electricians, accountants, business owners, just to name a few. They've done it all.
In the very bottom row of the photos, I was the IT Head of Department at my school between 2020-2024. I was very busy and had lots of responsibilities, but I also learned a lot. I'm very thankful to the school for trusting me in this huge role and allowing me to prove myself.
After finishing teaching this year, I will have a new job. I will go from supporting IT in one school to supporting IT projects in many schools. I will still be in Education, but I won't be in the classroom teaching students anymore.
After 20 years of teaching, I have understood how hard it is to be a teacher. Even though 20 years is a long time, I have met and befriended many teachers who have taught for 30-40 years. Compared to them I'm only half way. I would like to pay my utmost respect to all teachers and even though I'm taking a break, I would like to keep supporting you and schools to keep doing the great work.
Below is a video I have made using a program called "Fantamorph". It's a program that's been around for 20+ years, so definitely not the latest AI, but it was able to morph my face from one year to the next in a seamless transition, just like a Michael Jackson video. Enjoy!
