Or a career. It is the end. Papers are signed and there is no turning back. I am retiring.
I have spent weeks writing this post in my head. I have spent three weeks actually getting the right papers to the right places. Retiring is not easy...either mentally or actually! It is a huge decision and when you put your name on the dotted line it is real. I will not be going back to school next year. In August when all of my friends are dusting off their lesson plan books and looking at their class rosters, I will be home.
I am sure this is the right thing to do. Everyone says when the time is right you will know it.
But...when I dropped off the final set of papers at the administration building I realized this was life changing. I am at the end..the end of a very important part of my life. This is not a job change it is the end of my career. Being a teacher is different. I am not a secretary or a salesman. What I do affects not just me, but a classroom full of kids everyday. I love it and I have done a good job. I am confident that there are kids that have learned life lessons in my classroom, but my heart is moving in another direction. I know if you are not giving a 110% of yourself then it is time to move on...so I am. 
I am a bit weepy as I finish this. It is not easy to walk away from something that is part of your identity. The kids that have sat in my classroom have touched me in more ways than I can count. They have made me more patient, more understanding, more sympathetic, and much less prejudice. I have been blessed to work in a very racially diverse building and what I have learned about each and every culture is a lesson that is priceless.
I will be forever grateful for a job that did not even start until I was 40. The last 23 years have mattered to me.
In five weeks I will be finished. Boxes will be packed, files shared, goodbyes said, and I will leave with wonderful memories. No ruffles or flourishes or sentimental endings. No manditory luncheons or district bar-b-ques. I just want to close my door and walk away. A simple finish to something that will be part of who I am forever.
On June 4th things will be different, and I am ready....
TO BEGIN THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!
I have spent weeks writing this post in my head. I have spent three weeks actually getting the right papers to the right places. Retiring is not easy...either mentally or actually! It is a huge decision and when you put your name on the dotted line it is real. I will not be going back to school next year. In August when all of my friends are dusting off their lesson plan books and looking at their class rosters, I will be home.
I am sure this is the right thing to do. Everyone says when the time is right you will know it.
But...when I dropped off the final set of papers at the administration building I realized this was life changing. I am at the end..the end of a very important part of my life. This is not a job change it is the end of my career. Being a teacher is different. I am not a secretary or a salesman. What I do affects not just me, but a classroom full of kids everyday. I love it and I have done a good job. I am confident that there are kids that have learned life lessons in my classroom, but my heart is moving in another direction. I know if you are not giving a 110% of yourself then it is time to move on...so I am. 
I am a bit weepy as I finish this. It is not easy to walk away from something that is part of your identity. The kids that have sat in my classroom have touched me in more ways than I can count. They have made me more patient, more understanding, more sympathetic, and much less prejudice. I have been blessed to work in a very racially diverse building and what I have learned about each and every culture is a lesson that is priceless.I will be forever grateful for a job that did not even start until I was 40. The last 23 years have mattered to me.
In five weeks I will be finished. Boxes will be packed, files shared, goodbyes said, and I will leave with wonderful memories. No ruffles or flourishes or sentimental endings. No manditory luncheons or district bar-b-ques. I just want to close my door and walk away. A simple finish to something that will be part of who I am forever.
On June 4th things will be different, and I am ready....
TO BEGIN THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment