If she's miserable she should start looking for a new job. If she can get into administration more she might enjoy it. Or maybe just changing grades. I've always heard middle school is the worst. If she's in middle school maybe move down to grade school, etc.

I'd say the only way she can flat out QUIT is if she finds another job paying more than she's making now. If she finds a new job she probably won't be off when her kids are so she'll have to now cover daycare for the times when the kids are out of school but she isn't.

If it were MY friend? I'd probably introduce her to Dave (yep I love Dave) and get her on a plan. Have her figure out her budget, cut expenses and see how long she'd have to stay where she is in order to pay off her debt. Then maybe she can start selling stuff around the house - hold garage sales, etc. Do everything she can to get rid of this debt. It'll be a while, but quitting alone is NOT a good choice at this point.

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Personally, I don't believe a college education is wasted even if it isn't used in a job. If the friend can afford to not work, she is free to decide to not work. Just because she has a college loan to pay off doesn't mean she has to be the one to physically bring in the income to pay it.

If she wants to work and use her degree to flip to a completely different profession, that's find, too. I used to work in hi-tech and I worked with lots of ex-teachers.

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"I've been rich and I've been poor but independently wealthy is where it is at."

As a teacher, miserable in her job, I would suggest quiting. But I would absolutely wait until the student loans are paid off. I've taught for 9 years. I paid off my loans in year three. Thought that it might have just been the school and the town so I got a job in another school in another part of the state and found it to be the same. I just kept thinking it would get better, when the public school system is just getting worse (good teachers suffer the most because we care about the kids).

I agree that there has to be a reason she is unhappy. She needs to take a look at the school or whatever and try to fix it. She also should not quit until she has the loans paid off. That is what I would tell my friend.

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Jenifer
Proud wife to one amazing man
Proud mom to four awesome kids

Have a safe and blessed New Year!

She may need to change jobs, but part of being an adult, is that we have to pay for our past choices.