zmiller4
Well-Known Member
Which leads me to my question: has anyone found instruction to be particularly frustrating, and when they made it to the next step (regional, freight, charter) they actually felt a significant improvement in their job?
I hope so! I could use a little inspiration!
I think I was in a pretty similar situation to you when I was instructing. I had a few *awesome* students, but I had some that were just plain terrible. The first 8 months or so I beat myself up over their lack of success. Seeing them on my schedule would stress me out. I was at the airport 10-12hrs a day for 6-7 days a week, so I didn't have time to relax, or do the other things I enjoyed. I thought seriously about quitting and going back to grad school quite a few times at the beginning. After a year or so, though, I started being able to deal with frustrating students a little better. I looked at them as a challenge, not as a burden, and that really helped both in their progress and my mental health.
By the end of my 20-something months of instructing, I was definitely ready to move on to something else, but instructing was an enormously valuable experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. My first airline job required a *hellacious* commute to reserve, so that really didn't make things any better (still very little time off, a lot of stress from the commute and the new environment, etc). My current job, though, requires a much easier commute and seniority allows me 16-18 days off a month. I get mad now if I work 4 days a week. It's a night and day difference from instructing.
It will get better eventually. Give instructing all you've got, and remember that you're building hours so that you have the qualifications to move on. You're not going to be doing this forever, so try to find enjoyment in it where you can.