Originally Posted by
MMA_scientist
Nurses usually start around that same pay here, maybe $50-60K. But there are a lot of opportunies for advancement in nursing. With teaching, you can go into administration I guess, but I don't think you can become an admin via merit. I know a FNP who runs a clinic and makes a doctor's income. She does have a master's degree though, but I think her hospital paid for it.
I almost became a teacher. I was coaching wrestling and I didn't like that all that much so I couldn't imagine being stuck in a room with a bunch of kids that didn't want to be there. Also, a teacher talked me out of it. He said he just felt like it was a dead end and there was no where to go. I am also lazy, but I do aspire to dominate the world, so it would be hard for me to just sit and be content with my job and accepting the union pay scale. That said, I have a few good friends that are teachers, and at least one of them says that it is an awesome job- for all the same reasons you said. I guess it just depends on your quirks. My specific quirks would make teaching a horrible fit. But it is stable and easy work, which seems good. Also summers off to build your empire. I think elementary school would be better than HS or MS.
I actually had a job teaching 7th grade english and swimming, I bailed on it right before the school year to go to law school. I didn't major in education, but I met a principal at a hotel where I worked and he asked me what I was going to do. He said in Houston, I could teach without a degree and they would get me one while I taught (can't recall all the details). It paid $40k in 1999, so it probably pays at least $50k now.