What she said. If your daughter left education all together, then maybe it is more fair to say former teacher, but in transitioning to a related field I would say teacher who is going back to school.

How did she identify herself before teaching?

I can say this is a major issue for those of us in education. It is such a part of our identity. But I agree, saying she is transitioning from teaching to counseling is a good way, or saying she is a graduate student.

After 30 years of teaching, I say I am a teacher or sometimes, a retired teacher. I think what eld said is good, but I would change it to "I was a teacher and now..."

This.

”I was a teacher and now.....”

I would say something like I was a teacher but I'm going back to school because I'm changing careers. In her own words of course.

That said if she kept up her teacher's credentials she could conceivably use them in her new career in some capacity. Perhaps down the road she could teach counseling or therapy to therapists. The more credential she has the better anyway. Many people have crossover careers.

Best of luck to her in her new adventure.

I call myself a designer because that's what I've been most of my life - first designing clothes and later designing furniture. I also worked in a restaurant baking pastries, but I was told (here) that I could not call myself a pastry chef unless I had formal training, which I did not. Anyway, that was a part time job.

In high school I called myself a poet, and I wrote many, many poems from age 14 to 18. I always wanted a career as a writer, and my first degree was in English/German, but when I tried to find work, the first job I got was in a library, cataloging a Slavic literature collection. I got the job because I knew Russian. Later I applied for another job at the library at UC Santa Cruz, but I never really wanted to be a librarian.

Psychiatrists and psychologists describe me as an eccentric because I do not think the way most people do. When I took a marketing class for my design degree, I learned that I am part of the 3% fringe, who shop very differently from most people and are considered innovators rather than followers. When I lived in San Francisco in the 1970s and 80s, most of my friends were also eccentric, and so I thought I was normal, or at least like most people.

When I took the Myers-Briggs personality test, I came out as ENTP, and I have taken the test several times - always with the same results. When I took the MMPI test, I came out as either hopelessly eccentric or borderline psychotic, and was told that that particular test simply did not work for me. I fault the test for that - I think it was very poorly written. I do like the Myers-Briggs test and feel that it can provide insights into what careers are best for you. ENTP is also known as "the inventor", and I think this describes me well. I have to be doing something creative in order to be happy, and so my career as a designer seemed the most appropriate. I've also written short stories and plays, but those are difficult to sell. I've had a few poems and short stories published in magazines, however, but that was a long time ago.

Have your daughter take the Myers-Briggs test, and then she can better describe define herself. ENFJ is the "teacher or mentor" personality type.

I took the test and I'm the INFP-T (have no idea what the last T means). Mediator. Does ring as true. I'll read about it some more. I have some friends who are really into this test and see it as a very good guide. I myself can enjoy taking tests but I guess I'd rather some things be vague. I do find fascinating trying to understand them. I will tend to dig until they become even vaguer:)

In short, also with regard to myself -I try to define myself as little as possible.

I'd also just say (if asked directly and cannot be avoided) something decriptive like "I spent years working as such and such, and now I'm moving toward such and such direction"

Even though I must say- sometimes, depending on the context, and who's asking, and why-it helps to give the shortest answer possible.

Doesn't the context and audience matter? For example, if I were meeting with a former colleague, they understand exactly what I do so I would describe it to them one way. To another audience who was talking about careers, i might just say "finance". To my Dr., I might just say "retired" because life-style wise, i pretty much am.

I also often hear people say "I am a ___ by training but ____"

Thanks for all your responses. I have really enjoyed reading them and have thought a lot about myself and what defines me to me. I've always wanted to write a biography for my kids but I'd get bogged down in details and give it up after I'd written way too many pages on the first two years of my life. Now I'm going to write a very brief account. My parents were blank. I grew up in blank. Just the facts, you know? I was just talking to my daughter and asked her if she knew how fast her dad and I left our small home town to live two hours away in the city. And fifty years later we are still here. She had no idea.

Anyway...i sent M (my daughter) your responses last night and called her this morning to see if she'd read them. She likes them a lot and I will send these new ones. She said she is feeling better about her identity and thinks it is the fact that it has only been a couple of weeks since school was out that is making it an issue at all.

I think Gscience is right that this may be more of a thing with people who teach because they live and breath their job 24/7. We always thought M would be a lawyer because she was so ready to argue and run all our lives from a young age. However, after her education, all this was channeled into being a teacher and I think she is probably a very good one because she genuinely loves her students and has a lot of empathy for them as she was not a good student until she got into high school.

Lars, I love personality tests and really enjoyed your account. M says she has taken the Meyer-Briggs test but has forgotten the results. I really admired the way you let all of us weigh in on the house you just bought without showing an ounce of sensitivity about our criticisms. I think you must be a man who is comfortable with who he is. As for me, I have always tended to define myself as how other people define me. I've never had a good sense of who I am. Now that I am seventy three I am beginning to change that and give value to what I think and discount other people's opinions. It's about time, right?

April, I am a INFP-T. The T stands for turbulent. I've never really looked into what that means exactly. I think that is a recent addition to the test. I suspect it means that my emotions are strong and ever-changing. I react strongly to everything. My mother was that way. We all tiptoed around her and didn't tell her things because she always reacted so badly to everything. My goal in life was to not be like her. But I am. I react very quickly but I'm over it in a minute. My husband, on the other hand, doesn't show much emotion but he doesn't get over things easily.

This is getting long but I really enjoy the subject and hope to hear more from all of you about it.

This is interesting. I‘ve never even thought about defining myself and wondered what would cause one to feel the need to do so. Is It just for one’s own self internally or is it when someone asks you - presumably what you do as I don’t think people ask what you are. Lars - I loved learning more about you. I think you would be a very interesting person to meet. I very much enjoy meeting people who aren’t like most everyone else. My Myers Briggs was ESTJ - must be complete opposite of you as I completely lack creativity.

I agree about Lars being interesting! I just love reading his posts. And, a great dresser! to boot! ;)

Now I'm thinking I must find a way to meet Lars before we move from LA next year! :-)

I define myself as a writer because that is my passion. To be fair, my last "real" writing job was five years ago when I was an editor at a magazine. Since then it has been mostly helping friends and family with writing challenges and the occasional paid assignment. Even though I don't have a regular writing income, defining myself as a writer feels in sync with my world and thought process. And, more importantly, it makes me feel good about myself.

(These days, I also define myself as a tour guide, ie, storyteller, which is a natural offshoot of being a writer.)

I feel very lucky to know who I am/want to be. It only took me half a century to figure it out, lol.

I feel that if a person has been trained and certified or licensed for a specific vocation, then that is what they'd use to describe themselves professionally. A lawyer, even if not currently practiciing, would still refer to oneself as a lawyer. A geologist would still be a geologist if they went to work as a bartender.

Conversely, someone who doesn't specialize in one field wouldn't really want to call themselves something else. I worked as a mail carrier for several years before going into the regulatory field. I didn't refer to myself as a mail carrier after I left that job because it wasn't a specialty, it was just a career choice.

neetsie, I've always thought mail carriers had a great job. I was envious of all that walking and friendly interaction.