They say there's no going back, but 12 years after leaving teaching I am standing in front of classes of boisterous students again.
It's not exactly the plot twist I saw coming. it was a big career change, again!
For the past 10 years, I have been fully immersed in digital content creation, developing recipes, running my own business and building an online audience.
I had the creative freedom to pour myself into projects with endless flexibility, and felt a real sense of connection when my work resonated with people.
Some days this work felt like a dream and I guess that would be the general perception from the outside, too.
How I knew it was time for a change
Running your own business isn't as pretty as people make out. All the creative stuff was fun and easy. What came with it, though, was uncertainty.
It's stressful being your own boss. You're your own employee, HR team, finance department and tech support (after all these years I'm still trying to get my head around things like taxes and marketing). There's also no clock-off time unless you intentionally build some in.
And then there's the social media stuff, which was the breaking point perhaps. A large chunk of my work involved sharing content on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.
Over the past couple of years, I've been thinking about the pressure that comes with being on social media. The pressure to be constantly visible, to overshare, to always be "on" and to have something to say about everything. That part of it started to wear me down.
There's this unspoken rule in the content world that if you want people to engage with your work, you must keep engaging too. Posting, filming, editing, uploading, responding, speaking up. It's an endless game.
And at one point, I had to ask: how much of this is really me and how much of it is just keeping the machine fed?
The longer I stayed regularly active in that online world, the more I felt the urge for a shift. Not just in the platforms I was on, but in me.
Figuring out my next move, again
Going back to teaching wasn't an obvious choice. After a previous experience, I didn't think I'd ever return. But time and distance have a funny way of shifting your perspective.
Teaching was more than a 'job' and one where I genuinely made a difference. Maybe, just maybe, it was something worth doing again?
I made the decision to return to teaching after many conversations with my husband and daughters. They, after all, are the ones who've seen me through every version of my career.
It also took a lot of chatter with myself, the version of me who has always wanted more than a follower count.
I realised I missed being part of something bigger. I missed teaching. I missed being challenged in ways that didn't rely on social media, on comments and likes.
I started the school year doing casual work to test the waters. Now I'm back teaching full-time. I'm in a place where I can challenge my mind and hopefully offer something useful.
It has been a challenge to get back into the groove of things, but this time around, my daughters are all grown up and my son is at an age where he's more independent.
Plus, I have a very supportive husband who works from home. This is a great help when it comes to balancing household chores while still being able to dabble in creative projects on weekends.
So, it's not a complete reinvention, it's more of a realignment. I want my work life to feel grounded, not performative. And I want my voice to be useful, especially for young people from diverse backgrounds, navigating a world that's not always on their side and one that's changing incredibly fast.
Going back to teaching feels good and it may be the most authentic use of my energy.
Do you have a career change experience to add to this story? Lina Jebeile is a teacher, and the photographer and recipe writer behind The Lebanese Plate, a blog and Instagram account where she showcases her love for Lebanese cuisine. She is a regular recipe contributor to ABC Lifestyle.
