Your priorities have changed along with the change in the job market. During your initial college years, you were likely enthusiastic and motivated to go out after graduation and apply yourself as well as what you have learned in your undergraduate studies. However, like many recent graduates, you may have quickly come to realize that the job opportunities that you have focused on while working on your degree no longer exist in the declining economy. After much time spent job searching, you now have a few options available to you. One option would be to change nothing and continue with the job search, which may or may not yield the desired results. The other option, as you have already considered, is to let go of your former aspirations or to temporarily put them aside, and pursue a different career path through continued education. You mentioned you had already secured the financial aid for an advanced degree, therefore I would suggest by all means go for it. Not only can additional education help you build additional skills and obtain more knowledge, you may be more likely to find work in the future with a higher degree. The good thing with becoming a teacher is that there will always be a demand for educators, even if some schools are currently downsizing as well. I think if given the chance, many college graduates who are having difficulty finding work (as well as others who have been laid off or lost their jobs through downsizing, etc.) would jump at the opportunity to further their education and increase their chances to become more marketable. Personally, I am in the same situation you are in. I graduated last year with my BA and have been looking for work since 1 ½ years, without any luck. My primary field of interest is not hiring anybody who lacks the needed 1-3 years work experience (which I do not have, since I was in school fulltime for 4 years) or does not have a Master’s Degree. I, too, have decided that as soon as it becomes financially possible for me, I will go back to school and continue my education. I have also made up my mind not to continue directly in this field, but take up another interest of mine. So as you can see, you are definitely not the only one facing this obstacle. So my advice to you would be to go back to school and increase your knowledge if you have the chance to do so.