written in collaboration with Chat GPT
Over the past several weeks, I’ve been standing on the edge of something new—and now I’m beginning to cross the bridge.
I left my long career as an EC teacher, a role that shaped me for decades. It wasn’t easy, but it was time. In its place, I’ve started building a new life with intention, creativity, and yes, some uncertainty too.
Here’s what I’ve been up to:
I officially started my Paralegal Certification Program through Duke. Two volumes of “Essential Skills” arrived—one focused on legal procedures, ethics, trial prep, and communication, and the other on legal research, writing, and citation. I’m taking time to ease into it, chapter by chapter, letting the learning settle into my rhythm.
I’m exploring job possibilities—from tutoring and educational consulting to retail positions. Some applications are in; some are still simmering.
I’ve begun developing a new creative project: phonics-based educational videos for families. I’m imagining a format that blends humor with heart, grounded in years of literacy work and fueled by a love of teaching in new ways.
I’ve spent time reconstructing my full work history, all the way back to Burger King in 1978. It’s a strange kind of archaeology, but it’s helping me see the arc of who I’ve been—and who I’m still becoming.
None of this has been linear. Some days are full of action. Some days, I need a nap and a walk with Brutus. But it’s all part of the shift—part of this precious, unpredictable transition.
Thank you for walking with me.
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Published by Jessie
Hello,
My name is Jessica T. Eustice, and I’m a longtime educator in North Carolina with roughly 40 years of experience in special education, caregiving, literacy support, and community-based work.
Like many Americans, I’ve been watching the rapid development of AI with both fascination and concern. Much of the public conversation focuses on jobs disappearing, automation, and economic disruption. But I think there may be another side to the story that deserves attention.
My idea is this:
AI may push society back toward more individualized, relationship-based work — a kind of modern cottage industry built around uniquely human gifts.
Instead of everyone competing for fewer standardized corporate jobs, more people may begin creating small, human-scale forms of work based on personality, trust, mentorship, creativity, and care:
- tutoring
- coaching
- caregiving
- teaching
- art
- storytelling
- local services
- companionship
- skill-sharing
AI lowers barriers to entry in ways that make this newly possible. Someone without technical expertise can now build a website, teach online, create educational materials, organize clients, or reach a niche audience.
In my own case, I’m exploring a small ESL tutoring practice called “Gentle English With Jessie,” built around patience, emotional safety, and one-on-one encouragement for adult learners.
It strikes me that many of the abilities AI cannot easily replace — warmth, presence, trust, reassurance, lived experience, emotional intelligence — are precisely the abilities many ordinary people already possess.
I wonder whether the future of work may become less industrial and more personal again.
I thought this perspective might be of interest to NPR or WUNC because most AI discussions focus on economics and technology, while fewer focus on the possibility of a human-scale social reorganization around individual gifts and local relationships.
Thank you for reading.
Sincerely,
Jessica T. Eustice
Chapel Hill / Carrboro, NC
I identify as a teacher of English for English language learners, EC, and Social Studies; I have expertise in the humanities, am experienced in studying Language Arts, Reading, Arithmetic-for-practical-purposes, and Algebra-I.
I have striven to broaden and deepen my capabilities to maintain my integrity as a worker in the American economy since 1977 when I started working, as a cashier in fast food. Since then, I have served as a camp counselor, a work-study student in college, a puppet-wagon lady in the summer. I tutored privately, and in an academic institution and with a Learning Center. I taught as an intern teacher, a licensed teacher, and a Community College Instructor. I have also been a retail administrative assistant, and a caregiver.
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