A New Path or Not?

Whenever someone asks me if I want to become an administrator, I immediately answer no.

Today, someone changed tactics on me.  Rather than accept my pat answer of "I want to keep ASB and work with the kids because that is my main intent with this job", he said to me, "why not get the degree as a back up plan for 5-10 years down the road?"

The question made me stop and think. 

Could I be a principal?

I've never invisioned myself as an administrator.  Can I do the job?    Could our family handle the extra supervision commitments?  What will I do if I burned out on ASB before my plan of retirement in 15 years?  Would Eric and Alexander support the career change?   In my current position, there are so many hours outside of the work day that are required by the job and the energy level is at a constant high.  Statistically, I'll burn out.  Would I really want to go back to PE after doing what I'm doing?  I simply don't know if teaching PE would hold enough of a challenge for me.

So, after some thought and a discussion with Eric, I did what any good person does - I hit the Internet.  I googled "principal pay scale".  I researched master and doctorate programs.   I made a list of what administrators do that I can't do.  BTW, I came up with one thing - evaluate staff.  And I could totally do that piece.

As it turns out...they make a lot more than I do.  A LOT MORE. 

I could start a program to get my credentials next year.  I could spend two years working on it at a snail's pace and earn my degree.  At that point, I could either 1) stay where I am or 2) look for a job as an administrator.  Alexander would be full time at school and Eric could stay home longer during Alexander's school days.

I'm not going to lie. It's tempting.  I like being a student so the school part would be great.  However, I don't want to work anywhere else.  And I don't know that I will burn out on ASB.  And I don't know that I want to be an administrator.  And I don't know that I'm ok with always being the working parent with the agreement that Eric should be home all the time.  Let me be clear, he's a great stay at home Dad.  But what happens if I want my turn at home?

Having a safety net is never a bad idea, though. 

Am I ready for a new path?  Am I ready to start school again and go through all that time of being a student, while working full time? 

I just don't know.

It's mighty interesting thinking about the possibilities, though.  Mighty interesting.