Many impactful people throughout history liked to repeat that “With great power comes great responsibility.” But in exchange for carrying that responsibility, one would like to be appropriately compensated.
People who are in high-status positions always earn more because of how important their decisions are, but there are many other professions that aren’t necessarily at the top when talking about hierarchy, but their work is just as impactful.
One of those professions is a teacher. The person who helps children develop, instills values and gives knowledge so that they can navigate the world. However, it is not reflected in their wages and this one teacher from Ohio quit his job and went to work at Walmart to be better paid.
More info: TikTok
Teacher from Ohio went viral for revealing that he quit his job and became a Walmart manager because the position offered better pay
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
On TikTok, teacher Seth Goshorn was sharing videos of his achievements at the gym and his now-fiancée playing basketball. One day he decided to get a little bit more personal and revealed that he quit his job after 6 years of teaching and became a manager at Walmart because the pay was just better.
The video blew up on the app, getting over 800k views and raised a lot of questions that Seth was happy to answer. It also attracted the attention of the media wanting to know Seth’s story, because at first glance, being a teacher seems like a more reputable profession than working at Walmart.
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
Seth had been a teacher for 6 years, but the salary was not enough for him, especially because he was planning to have a family
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
Seth is 28 years old and had been teaching second grade students for 6 years in Plain Local Schools in Ohio. He told Good Morning America that he really loved teaching but he wasn’t satisfied with what he was earning, which was $43,000 a year.
The teacher’s mother, brother and fiancée all work at Walmart, so he knew what he could expect there and that is higher pay. The man revealed that as a stocking 2 coach, he will be earning $55,000 a year, which is a significant boost, but he could expect that salary to be even higher after adding the bonuses.
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
Some people in the comments tried to justify the low wage of teachers by saying that they have summers off and don’t have to work on weekends, unlike a Walmart worker. Seth had to disappoint those people because he explained that a teacher’s job is more than what a student sees.
A teacher’s day doesn’t end after the last lesson. They often take home papers to grade, they have to make lesson plans, and many teachers are involved in other activities that are outside the classroom.
The new Walmart manager told Fox8 News, “Even though they’re scheduled for 40 hours, they’re working a lot more than that, whether it’s teaching, grading after school. I coached football and track so those were other things on the weekends. I did summer school. We don’t have all the time off that they think.”
He found out that he could make more working at Walmart and he didn't need a specific education
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
He is happy not only about the bigger salary, which surely helps, because he and his fiancée are planning to start a family, but also because he feels that there are more opportunities to climb up the career ladder: “You don't have to go and get another degree or more initials or letters in front of your name to move up.”
However, he absolutely doesn’t want to discourage people from becoming teachers and he just wishes that people of this profession would receive the salary they deserve. Also, he is not giving up on teaching completely, because he is planning on keeping his teacher’s license and renewing it when needed.
Besides, some skills he acquired as a teacher come in handy, “My degree doesn’t exactly translate but the skills that a lot of teachers have and the leadership ability teachers have does correlate to a lot of companies.”
So he went for it and now earns $55,000 a year as a stocking 2 coach instead of $43,000 a year as a teacher
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
Image credits: sg_powerlifting
You can watch the video of the teacher revealing he switched careers below
Many people in the comments were quite saddened by the fact that Seth had to quit his job as a teacher, but at the same time, they understood his reasons. It seems that Seth is not the only one to have made this decision as there were people who admitted they are earning double at their new jobs that don’t require an education when compared to a teacher’s salary.
If you are a teacher, what is your experience and do you relate to Seth? What do you think has to be done to make schools pay teachers more, as it is evident passion alone is not enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Some people were disappointed by Seth's decision, but most of them were sad that teachers face this reality and were glad Seth could find a solution
