Positive Reinforcement, Anyone?

Yesterday, I had a sort of depressing experience and I just wanted to vent.

Every Tuesday night, immediately following our class, I look forward to my weekly painting class. This class has a mixture of undergraduate students and graduate students including several public school art teachers, my chosen career area.

Well, last night I am painting and chilling out when one of the women starts talking about how much she hates being an art teacher, and how it is the worst career on earth. I jokingly said something like, "hey, watch what you're saying, you have a future art teacher, here".

She then went on to try to persuade me that I should think about doing something else. I asked her if the problem is the students or the administration and she said, "both".

She told me how the students were rude and fresh and didn't want to learn anything.
Then she told me how one boy was making references to another teacher in the school about oral sex. I asked her how old her students were, and she said K-4h grade!

She said that every day she could only pray to make it through that day. She said she would quit but needed the money and the benefits.

She told me that she was sorry, and didn't intend to be mean by telling me these things, but thought that a lot of people choose teachng art because they think it will be rewarding and fun, but she thought that we needed to go into "the mine field" with our eyes open.

This woman says that the elementary school she works in is in Roselle Park, NJ, a place I have never heard of and have no preconceived notions of.

This bit of conversation both frightened and depressed me and I don't know how to process it.

Feedback, anyone?

Thanks!