Reinventing a career is always a good thing to do. I’m a mechanical engineer by schooling, but have done systems ( talk about a sideways step), field work and testing. I like to change directions every 5-7 years so I’m way overdue this time. I think of it as a way to clean out your file drawers and get rid of stuff.
For months now, I’ve been seriously considering leaving my [relatively] high-paying job as a software quality control engineer to become a high school music teacher.
The long-and-short of it is I’m spending 9 hours a day glued to a computer, when all I think about all day is music (hence, I’m here, writing), and that is truly where my passion lies.
Problem is, it will take at least 2 years almost full-time schooling to get the degree I need, and the career change will net me just about a 50% pay cut.
But - what price my soul?
Encouragement, please!
(Keep in mind, I have a self-employed wife, 2 young children, a mortgage, credit-card bills, etc.)
Am I crazy or what?
Hmmm…I’m wondering how your soul will feel after 30 hours a week of
high school kids.
(wait…I’m supposed to be encouraging…yeah! Go for it! Teens are an utter and unfettered source of joy! Sometimes.)
I personally think you should be a…lumberjack. Winging your way through the mighty forests of British Columbia. The mighty larch, the Scots pine…etc.
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What price? How about your family, or the responsibility for the debt load you have taken on? If you are making that much money now, you’d be better of clearing your debts first with that big paycheck (including the mortgage), and then allowing yourself the time to go back to school. That way no-one else pays for your self-indulgence and you meet your obligations at the same time. Win-win for everyone. So what if it takes a few more years?
djm
What makes the above potentially not an issue is that by high school, those annoying teens are taking music courses because they want to be there, not because they have to be there. I originally went to school to be a HS math teacher. I’ve already seen the teens who are only there because they have to be there. That’s why I’m not a math teacher anymore. 
Thanks for the voice of reason. It’s what I’ve been telling myself as well.
May have been mentioned already, and you may already know/be doing it, but a lot of universities have started offering an entry-level Masters degree in nursing, for people with a non-related degree. The school I’ve been looking at, in two years you get a MSN instead of an associates. For another year, you can get an additional master’s and be a nurse practicioner in one of several fields.
Just something to look in to. Best of luck with your career change. You have to be true to yourself and enjoy what you’re doing.
What price indeed! Do some careful arithmetic but if you can financially swing it at all, I’d say go for where your passion lies. Your computer skills can probably let you do some part time work to raise some extra $$. Is it possible that you can take some of your required courses online, which might save money? Can you get CLEP credit for some of your required courses? Go talk to a counsellor at the school you are thinking of – there are lots of options out there.
Heck, at the age of 55, I just signed a note for a student loan! 
Paul, only you can know what is the right choice for you. You know that nursing is hard work and often underappreciated, and only you can judge if the rewards will compensate.
I just want to add my strong ‘‘Hear, hear!’’ to the already-voiced sentiment that nurses are REALLY IMPORTANT. When I was 18, I spent two months chained to my bed in a hospital. (Orthopedic wing, not psychiatric. I was in what they called ‘skeletal traction’, with weights hanging from cables attached to a metal bar through my leg bone just below my knee. I also had my jaws wired shut, so not only did I have to subsist on hospital food for two months, I had to survive on LIQUID hospital food. 
) I was literally at the mercy of nurses. Most of them were wonderful, and their kindness made such a difference to me. The few that weren’t wonderful only highlighted how terrific the good ones were.
I am deeply thankful for nurses. To all you nurses out there, on behalf of all you have helped, THANK YOU!
BTW, Paul…
can we start calling you Gaylord Focker?