You're welcome. Listen, I certainly don't want to discourage you from teaching, it's just that I don't want to see you or anyone else get into an occupation that doesn't pay well and then have them be thinking, "What did I do?" I know, I see those teachers who are living in big fancy houses and driving the newest vehicles, but let me remind you that all of those that I know are married to a husband who earns triple or more than them. My husband has never been to college and he earns triple what I make per year. I have seen the Missouri state teacher's pay scale. I will have to work 30 years before I even start making that kind of money. Also, those teachers that are making good money have been teaching for 15 to 20 years. As long as my school offers me a contract each year, I will stay there for a couple of reasons: First, I love my job and the kids; second, I cannot afford to go back to college to start learning something else so that I can switch occupations. For you, now is the time to make that decision. I think you have made the right one. This way you can work as an LPN (and if you do some checking, I am guessing you won't have any trouble getting a job and you won't have to worry about not making enough money to pay you SL payments and also having enough money to support you and your children). Our daughter will be graduating from high school in May. What we are trying to get her talked into is taking classes that she can "double dip" with. That means that if she takes a class that is required for cosmetology (like Anatomy and Physiology) then that class is probably also required for Massage Therapy. Therefore she can graduate from college with a license to be a Cosmetologist and also a Massage Therapist. These are things she wants to do and this way she can take care of both of them at the same time. Of course she will have to be a cosmetologist in an area where there are few cosmetologists and she will only do well in a big city in massage therapy, like working in a spa/resort. As I said before, you have to think about what the education is going to cost, what you will make when you start working, and the location of the jobs. I think you have made a wise choice because you can work as a nurse for your primary job, then you can sub on your days off. You will have the best of both worlds. I am proud of you!

I was in the same situation back in 2004. I had graduated from Crowder College and had an Associate of Arts in Elementary Education. Let me point out something: The only thing a person can do with an AA in Elementary Education, at least in Missouri, is be either a substitute teacher or teacher's aide. I wasn't going to make enough money to pay my student loan payments if I just relied on subbing. If I was the only sub that a school district had and could pick up all the days they needed a sub, then I could make enough money to pay my SL payments. Unfortunately, that is not how it works. Most schools have an overabundance of subs, so one person does not get called everytime. So, I had to decide whether I should get a full-time job in some other field or go on for another two years of college and get the BSE. When I started applying for jobs, no one wanted to hire an education major because they felt like I would leave them to go back to subbing or work as an aide. I could not convince them otherwise. I applied for 30 jobs over one summer and didn't even get an interview. Those who did call me initially to find out a bit about me ended up before the conversation was over already telling me they were hesitant because I might leave to go back to work at a school. So, I took out some student loans and went to Missouri Southern State University in Joplin until May of 2007, when I finally graduated. As long as you are enrolled full-time, you don't have to pay any payments on your loans until you graduate. So I subbed anytime I was available and took my homework with me. Well, I graduated Magna Cum Laude in May of 2007 with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. Here is the kicker: the teaching jobs for elementary are few and far between, or at least they were last Spring. I applied for the few teaching jobs that were available at 8 different school districts within 5 counties (Bates, Barton, Vernon, St. Clair, and Cedar). I ended up getting an interview for an aide position where I would work solely with one child with disabilities. It was not a pretty situation. As it turned out, they didn't even want me because they felt like since a had a BSE that I needed to be teaching in a full teaching position. I went on one more interview and did not get that job, even after being told that I was highly recommended by other teachers and some principals that I had worked for when I was a sub. Finally at the end of June, I was sitting at home depressed, because I had to start making SL payments in December of 2007 and I had no way to pay them because I did not have a job, the call came. The call was from a principal who had already turned down hiring me once already just a couple of months earlier when he was looking for a teacher. Anyway, I took the job. I love it with all my heart and I love the children like they are my own, but even in one year of salary, I will not make even the same amount as what I owe in Student Loans. In fact, I will earn less. That does not matter to DESE; you still have to pay the payments regardless of unemployment. I drive 45 minutes one way, so 1 and 1/2 hours total for the round trip and it is a treacherous drive in the bad winter weather, but it was the only job available and I needed a job. To sum this up, what I am saying is this: just look at what you are going to spend on your education (or what you are going to owe), then find out what kind of money you would make when you are employed in that field that you have studied and earned a degree in. Also, make sure that you have chosen a field that has more than plenty of jobs available. I can honestly say that I do not regret my choice to go on to earn the BSE and I do not regret my choice of university because in Missouri, MSSU has the highest number of their teacher graduates hired. They are usually employed before they graduate and they have the contract signed before graduation. Therefore, another factor to look at when choosing your occupation is the location of the jobs. Location was my obstacle. I am truly glad that I I did not spend anymore than what I do owe, even though I do love my occupation.