Stay or Go?
Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2014 12:48 pm
Alright, I need some advice from objective people or people who have been in a similar experience. As the title suggests, I’m struggling with the decision to stay at my current school or leave. I’m only signed to a one-year contract, but our mid year break is coming very quickly and if I choose to leave, that is the smartest time to leave, for me and for the school, as I already have a trip back home scheduled. My apologies as well, as this will be long, but I’d rather give too much information than not enough
About my situation: Overall, it’s not bad – at all – which begs the question, why would I be debating leaving? It comes down to finances, and a slight medical concern, but mostly finances. The school I’m working at pays us in the local currency (forgive me but I’m going to omit where I’m working, as there are few international schools) – with no option of being paid in USD, EUR, or GBP. That, in itself, wouldn’t be a problem, except that the economy here is in a tailspin and the money is losing value rapidly – it’s worth about 70% of what it was (in USD or EUR) when the school year began in early August. I’m from America, and as such, I’ve got copious amounts of debt back home from getting my bachelor’s degree, as well as some other unavoidable expenses.
I’ve asked the administration about the situation, but there will be no adjustments or assistance, because as they pointed out, the salary is perfectly acceptable for the cost of living here - which is true, if you come with little or no debts to your name. It’s also expressly forbidden in the contract to obtain a second job, as it is with most international schools, so I have no other income sources (they made a point to mention that this includes private tutoring). As the currency continues to fall, however, I have to send more and more of my salary home in order to pay off the same amount of debts, leaving me with less and less here. I’m not paying more than I make – yet – but at this rate I would be by March, which is why I’m not sure if I should stay.
Otherwise, the school is not bad. It’s not great, but it’s nothing like some of the horror stories I’ve read here. My supervisors are generally nice. My students are, on average, okay – they lack any discipline (as does the school) but when you can get them to focus they learn. My coworkers are also generally fine – like any other school, I get along with some of them, and not so much with others. It’s not the school that I’m having troubles with, so much as the country.
Faced with this situation, I want to leave but am simply unsure. I’m not loving my time here, but I think that’s because I’m so stressed by these external factors. If I can decide what to do within a week, I’d give them a full month to find a replacement, which may not be tons of time but it’s better than no notice. I also don't want to pull a complete runner - not just professionally but I would lose respect for myself if I did that.
I'm not worried about leaving hurting future job prospects, as I don't plan on teaching internationally again, or at least not for many years, while I pay off my student loans. I've loved teaching internationally but this was just an unfortunate situation that has given me a new perspective.
So, if you're still with me, any advice? In my heart I want to stick it out but my brain is looking at the economics and telling me to get out before I'm in the red. So, like so many others, I'm just completely lost. Thanks for reading this, everyone.
About my situation: Overall, it’s not bad – at all – which begs the question, why would I be debating leaving? It comes down to finances, and a slight medical concern, but mostly finances. The school I’m working at pays us in the local currency (forgive me but I’m going to omit where I’m working, as there are few international schools) – with no option of being paid in USD, EUR, or GBP. That, in itself, wouldn’t be a problem, except that the economy here is in a tailspin and the money is losing value rapidly – it’s worth about 70% of what it was (in USD or EUR) when the school year began in early August. I’m from America, and as such, I’ve got copious amounts of debt back home from getting my bachelor’s degree, as well as some other unavoidable expenses.
I’ve asked the administration about the situation, but there will be no adjustments or assistance, because as they pointed out, the salary is perfectly acceptable for the cost of living here - which is true, if you come with little or no debts to your name. It’s also expressly forbidden in the contract to obtain a second job, as it is with most international schools, so I have no other income sources (they made a point to mention that this includes private tutoring). As the currency continues to fall, however, I have to send more and more of my salary home in order to pay off the same amount of debts, leaving me with less and less here. I’m not paying more than I make – yet – but at this rate I would be by March, which is why I’m not sure if I should stay.
Otherwise, the school is not bad. It’s not great, but it’s nothing like some of the horror stories I’ve read here. My supervisors are generally nice. My students are, on average, okay – they lack any discipline (as does the school) but when you can get them to focus they learn. My coworkers are also generally fine – like any other school, I get along with some of them, and not so much with others. It’s not the school that I’m having troubles with, so much as the country.
Faced with this situation, I want to leave but am simply unsure. I’m not loving my time here, but I think that’s because I’m so stressed by these external factors. If I can decide what to do within a week, I’d give them a full month to find a replacement, which may not be tons of time but it’s better than no notice. I also don't want to pull a complete runner - not just professionally but I would lose respect for myself if I did that.
I'm not worried about leaving hurting future job prospects, as I don't plan on teaching internationally again, or at least not for many years, while I pay off my student loans. I've loved teaching internationally but this was just an unfortunate situation that has given me a new perspective.
So, if you're still with me, any advice? In my heart I want to stick it out but my brain is looking at the economics and telling me to get out before I'm in the red. So, like so many others, I'm just completely lost. Thanks for reading this, everyone.