Eileen Bailey: Tupelo Middle School teacher switched careers to become teacher

Eileen Bailey didn’t start her career as a teacher. She grew up in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, and graduated from the University of Mississippi with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 1987. She went on to work for the Daily Journal, both on the copy desk and as the education reporter. But when she had her daughter in 2001, she felt like something was missing from her life.

She worked for Girl Scouts for a while. Then, when her mother was dying, “She looked at me from her hospital bed, and she said, ‘Don't have any what-ifs in your life. What is it that you've always wanted to do that you haven't done?’”