Teaching
A good friend of mine took a £60k pay cut when he left his city job to go into teaching. He was full of enthusiasm and excitement about a career that actually meant something; not just crunching numbers in Excel but educating the next generation in mathematics.

His PGCE was tough, taking in some of south London's rougher schools. He persevered.

His first year in teaching was really tough. Working longer hours than he had as a financial consultant, his 'spare' time became filled with hours of lesson planning, marking, and other assorted tasks.

The second year was worse still. Having survived one year, he was given the worst behaved sets to teach the next. He fights a daily battle with unruly pupils, having to send out those fighting in class or vandalising the books or desks. He deals with verbal abuse and has been physically threatened.

He's spoken about quitting but wants to see it through. I think if he leaves he'll think of himself as a failure.

I honestly don't know why he bothers.
( daikoku has been on a ragga tip since, Sat 17 Jul 2010, 10:36, Reply)