I first went into secondary education, somewhat on a whim. I definitely had very different ideas as to what I thought teaching was going to be like and what it actually ended up being. I never finished the program (the school went bankrupt 2 courses short of my masters!), but gained the necessary teaching certificate and taught for 4 years at the high school level. I found that in many ways, teaching is not about all those great things I had imagined it to be: loving my subject, working with students, social justice aspects.... I found so much of my time was spent on acquiring supplies ( I taught chem with no lab, no supplies!), paperwork, "helicopter parents", parents who couldn't care less, administration, huge achievement gaps and little help for students to overcome, teaching to standardized tests... there are still plenty of great thing about it, otherwise I would have never lasted those 4 years. I guess my 2 cents would be that if you're not still excited about teaching after getting a glimpse at its not so glamorous side, then it will likely only get worse for you. The teachers that I knew who were great teachers and in it for 5+ years are EXTREMELY passionate about what they do. I think your reasoning for going into something else aside from teaching is sound and that an admissions committee could see this as a learning/growth experience for you with explanation in your SOP. Also, I think that the teaching experience differs significantly from state to state, so my experiences may not necessarily translate.Good luck on whatever you decide.