On TikTok, a middle school teacher is speaking up about what it’s like to work in a profession that is underpaid.
One of Lexie Firment’s TikTok videos reveals her “teacher to server pipeline story” as a recent college grad and first-year teacher who will begin her new profession in the autumn. The TikToker claims she is unable to pay her rent despite working two jobs in addition to her teaching position.
Firment posted these words over a video of herself dancing that she had created “Today two tables didn’t tip me, I have 1600 in rent due in 15 days, and I cried mid-shift today. Can’t wait to play restaurant and broke teacher tomorrow again.”
Anyone who wished to contribute money to Firment was given her Venmo username in the video’s description. “y’all I just can’t today. My Venmo is lexiefirment.”
Firment, who often posts videos on her channel in which she provides hints and advice for other educators or just discusses her own experiences, created a follow-up video in response to a commenter who questioned her decision to pursue a career in education in the first place. “My name is Miss F, and I literally have a passion for teaching,” she began. “As a kid, I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I’ve manifested being a teacher, I literally love it. It brings me a lot of joy, and I can honestly be myself in that job.”
However, Firment is aware that she might earn more money if she worked in an office instead of balancing two jobs as a waiteress and a teacher.
When it comes down to it, “I’m going to do what is best for me,” she said, adding that she can do “a lot for education in my community” and “help the systemic issue of education in america as a whole.” “Yes, I mean, I would love to make more and that’d be really awesome, but not awesome in my goals,” she concluded.
Firment also said that she works Instacart “at night,” and she advised other instructors who may be wanting to generate more money to sustain themselves to consider it as an option for a side hustle.
Working with Instacart does not need a large time commitment and can be done on your own schedule. “I love it, I’m such an introvert, so I thrive off this.”
As it turns out, Firment’s situation of having a second job in order to pay the bills isn’t unusual. One-quarter of the teaching workforce quits each year, and one-fifth of those who remain are obliged to take two or more jobs just to make ends meet. The fact that teachers in the United States are underpaid, undervalued, and unappreciated is only going to continue to reflect poorly on the public school education system that exists in the nation.