On going viral & finding a new direction

One normal day I decided to use this stupid little trending sound to do a stupid little dance/ walk and make a reel about leaving teaching. To me, it was no big deal. I had already announced publicly that I was leaving months before. This was just a funny little thing. I didn’t even think about it.

I was wrong though.

To date, that stupid little video has over 7 million views on Instagram and 1.5 million on TikTok, and shows no signs of slowing down. The comments have been all over the place – from people celebrating with me and talking about how they left or want to leave too, to people insulting and berating me, calling me names and judging me without knowing one single thing about me. The danger in going viral, I suppose, is that a whole lot of people are going to see just one 15 second video and make assumptions based on it without taking the time to actually learn anything else.

I’ve contemplated shutting off comments or honestly just taking the whole thing down, but when I think about it, the conversations that have happened in the comments are important and a reflection of just how divided people are in their opinions on education and teachers in particular.

Going viral has also finally brought me to one of my goals: reaching (and surpassing at this point) 10K. It’s taken me six years and a lot of hard work, and I’m proud to have finally gotten here. This community has now grown so much in the last couple of weeks, and I hope that I can use this bigger platform to make a larger impact in the world for the causes that are important to me. You guys that have been here awhile know that social justice is one my biggest passions, and that’s going to continue to be at the forefront of the work I do here.

It’s also kind of fitting that all of this is happening when I am transitioning out of the classroom. After 15 years as a high school English & journalism teacher, I will be starting a new career next week. My new position is managing the new division of a school photography company, which really just feels like the perfect path for me. I will get to combine two of my loves, teaching and photography, while also getting to stay close to education by helping yearbook teachers, students, and families with their needs. I am so very excited for what this new career will mean for my family, work/ life balance, and mental health. The last two years in the classroom have been a LOT, and I am really looking forward to everything the future holds.

So if you’re new here, welcome! I’m happy you’re along for my journey and I hope we can get to know each other better. And if you’ve been here all along, thanks so much for always supporting me! It’s because of you OGs that I’m here today, and I love you guys.

xx,

Camile