Teacher Who Quit to Work at Costco Says She’s Never Been Happier In TikTok

According to Alcohol.org, 4.7% of all teachers surveyed as part of a study indicated that they abused alcohol within a month of taking the assessment. This might be due to the fact that a large percentage of teachers in the United States purportedly suffer from depression, the National Library of Medicine states.

The government agency writes: "High rates of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were observed among teachers (67%, 73%, and 86%, respectively). Among teachers who were affected by the work–family balance (89%), there was also an increased risk of symptoms of anxiety (OR: 3.2) and stress (OR: 3.5)."

Which means that there are probably a lot of teachers who have experienced the burnout and disenchantment with their positions like Maggie, who goes by Millennial Ms. Frizzle (@millennialmsfrizz) on TikTok, described in a now viral clip she posted to the popular social media platform.

In her clip, Maggie explains why she opted to leave her job as a teacher for a position at Costco. She says that even though she worked through the holiday rush and is technically working longer hours more days a week, she doesn't feel as fried as she did when she was an educator.

In a caption for the video she writes, "I used to be a teacher and now I work at Costco. This is my first year not having a winter break. I do not miss it at all. My pace of my work life now is so much better, I am not sick or exhausted like I used to be when I was a teacher. When I was a teacher I used my winter break basically to recover and go into the next semester of just surviving."

In the video, she walks outside of the Costco she works on, her name tag still on, and approaches her car. She speaks into the camera, saying, "I used to be a teacher now I work at Costco. This is my first ever year not having a winter break and how do I feel? I feel great."

She continued, "I just worked Christmas Eve, here's some cookies, also my manager gave me this cute Costco backpack and yeah I just, I mean I just worked 7 days straight including Christmas Eve and I feel fine. As a teacher it was like, like I was just surviving every moment."

Maggie went on to discuss how much better she feels working at Costco is for her mental health, "by the time I got to Christmas break I was so exhausted that I was literally sick. So yeah feels pretty good to not be a teacher at this time. I can elaborate more if people are genuinely interested."

"I've been working retail for this full season in my first year not teaching and I've never had this type of energy — everything is better I can't believe that I ever felt so limited like that I ever thought that I couldn't do something else. I am better now that I have been in my livable memory."

In a follow-up video she also said that she realized while working at Costco that during her certification for becoming a teacher she never once had a mentor or supervisor, like a Principal, demonstrate how to manage a classroom or prepare a lesson and that made her feel unsupported.

However at Costco, she said that her managers can perform pretty much every facet of the job and shift from managerial duties to stepping in on the register and helping a customer, to selling a membership, or do anything that's required on the floor, which gives her a greater feeling of assistance if she needs help with any aspect of her job.

Vox reported that 44% of all teachers ultimately end up leaving the profession within five years of starting their jobs. KQED.org wrote that while many instructors said that they found their work rewarding, they cited burnout as the top reason for either contemplating quitting or ultimately turning in their walking papers.