14/07/2026
You think you’re hiding your divorce well. Then a colleague asks if you are all right, and you feel your face go hot, because they noticed something, now you have to respond and you really don’t like to lie.
For many expat teachers I speak to, this is one of the unlikely fears they have, and they carry this dread everyday to school for months as they are going through a divorce. Largely because the expat community is tiny, and the proximity is even more daunting on an already small enough island. Once one person knows, you start to worry about who else knows, and whether it will reach your other colleagues, who are also your children’s friend’s parents, and before you know it, it reaches school management and that’s it - people are going to start questioning your capabilities and performance at work.
May I assure you that while the way news spreads like fire in your tight-knit community, this is not going to jeopardise your career - if you would allow honest communication rather than fight it.
Here’s how to do that: you do not owe anyone the story. Nobody is asking you to give the torrid details of your burnt marriage. You can say, "Going through a rough patch at home, I’ll reach out if I need to. Thank you for asking.” Straightforward, truthful, doesn’t cut people off and neither does it let them in on too much.
Still, you know this needs to be addressed because there’s only so much you can hold up before your emotions get the better of you and it really jeopardises your career.
DM me, and we’ll talk about how to get you going to school again without holding your breath.
