I began my teaching career in 1993, so a long time ago. In my birthday month this year, I received my letter from TRS stating I have met my “rule of 80” for retirement. If I hadn’t taken a three-year break to be with two toddlers, I would be two years away from the “rule of 90,” or max retirement. It’s safe to say I’m one of the more experienced educators, not just on our campus but in our district. I don’t know the exact statistics, but I must be in the top fourth for years in the trenches.
I am fortunate I still love my job. In my fourth year out of the classroom, I currently serve as an instructional coach at the high school. My first year “on the other side” was 2019-2020, the year schools shut down after spring break. I often wonder if I had experienced pandemic and post-pandemic teaching in the classroom if I would still be satisfied in my career or be as overwhelmed and stressed as the educators I support. My role during quarantine teaching consisted of creating and presenting virtual training to help teachers deliver online content and rotating with my instructional technology teammates to work our district help desk. It felt as if we worked around the clock but got to be the “heroes” by providing support and understanding for something educators had never done before.
It is a rare day that I dread going to work. Even during the toughest of times in my personal life - an unwanted divorce, a sickly baby, my father’s unexpected death, my mother’s Alzheimer’s, a young adult child struggling with substance use disorder - I have found joy in my career. In fact, I would argue the joy in my profession has helped me get through difficult times. I distinctly recall sitting in my “reading chair” on the last day of school, reading Dr. Seuss’s Oh, the Places You’ll Go to my second group of students ever, and holding back tears as I read about “the waiting place.” I had an “aha” moment that I was in “the waiting place” in my first marriage and that “waiting was not for me.” For two years, I had found so much joy in teaching those little people and growing as an educator that I didn’t dwell on the awful experience of a husband who didn’t choose to be loyal in our marriage. Having a career that I loved gave me the confidence to move past difficult circumstances - knowing there would be more groups of little people to impact and more joy to be found in the classroom.
As I ponder what it will be like to be a retired teacher, I have a hard time envisioning it. I believe I still have much to offer. My career has made the perfect transition from growing students to growing educators. I honestly don’t know my next career step; I find my coaching role fulfilling. I see myself making a difference in growing “little teachers” to impact our next generation of “little students.” What will that look like? I don’t know yet, but beginning this doctoral program has provided excitement to find out.
