Pivoting: A Journey Back to Teaching with a Tech Focus

Last summer, I made the decision to leave education after five years as a middle school math teacher. My goal was to land a job in the tech industry, sparked by a deep interest in machine learning that had taken root earlier that spring. I loved teaching and enjoyed the day-to-day academic adventures with my students. But the increasing workload — teaching subjects outside my specialty, new students added almost every month, limited opportunities for career growth, and a long commute — gradually drained the sense of fulfillment I once found in the classroom. That summer, I dove into all kinds of learning programs to upskill myself. I joined Math Academy to improve my math foundation, signed up for Google’s Data Analytics course, and began working through Python Crash Course by Eric Matthes to learn how to code in Python. I took on too much at once and quickly felt scattered and overwhelmed. In January, I retooled with a new mindset and a more sustainable pace. I also launched this…