Prep Time... For Retirement

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Reflections on Retirement by Retired Educators—Part II

by Enise Olding and Carol Baird-Krul

In the last issue, we met retired educators Margrid, Vicki, William, Lori, Caroline, Alan, Emma and Terry who openly shared their experiences and thoughts on what they expected before retiring from their work in education. Their frankness in responding to our questionnaire is much appreciated.

In this issue they tell us what it was like to actually become retired, and how life unfolded when they left the workday world of education. Next time we’ll get some tips and comments from them as they share their wisdom of life outside of the schoolyard and how to prepare for retirement.

Were your retirement expectations met after one year, two years? Please explain.

Yes, we moved to the west coast within a couple of months of retirement. We spent six weeks out of the country last year mostly on vacation. Being runners, since our arrival in BC, we have taken part every year in the Vancouver Island Series of races. I have also been contributing articles on nutrition to newspapers and magazines.
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YES – all three of my expectations were met and continue to be so: relief from the stress; chance to set my own timetable; chance to take care of me.
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I really didn’t have big expectations. I guess one thing is that I did expect to spend more time with my “retired” husband, however, now that he’s gone back to subbing I find that isn’t happening. I find myself spending many of my days doing things by myself as everyone else seems to be working. I think I’m lonely sometimes, but I just get out there amongst people and that seems to alleviate the loneliness.
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The first two years were very stressful. There had been high expectations of all the things that would be accomplished and finally gotten to. The lack of timelines and due dates left almost everything for later. I felt that there was so much time to do everything that nothing was done. The one expectation that was met was all the trips we took. The first year we went on 15 trips, the second year 13. There was not time to settle into a life of leisure. I did miss the satisfaction of accomplishment and felt stressed that I was not achieving the goals I set for myself.
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I actually didn’t feel retired until two years ago, after my father died. It was then that I began to consider the rest of my life.
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I was expecting to enjoy having more leisure time, but found I had to be busier to be happy. I tried volunteering in the first six months, but found it didn’t provide enough meaningful outside contact for me.

What has been the most significant change in your life since retiring from active employment?

The most significant change has been the elimination of the demands of a full time teaching position, especially preparation, marking, dealing with parents and report cards. The result has been a shift away from long-term perception of stress to simply day-to-day concerns, which are minimal.
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Learning to enjoy the present. Accepting that I am no longer very busy, that I can pretty much do as I choose. Coming very slowly to the realization that I am retired, and won’t work again. I find it interesting that there is a slight stigma about this. For example, I have a brother and sister-in-law who are ten years older than I and are still working at their careers, which is pretty amazing as my brother teaches math at Berkeley.
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The most significant change in my life since retirement was getting married and having someone special to share my life with, and also returning to teaching as a substitute teacher. This has given me an opportunity to work with children and has given me a sense of purpose and satisfaction without the “high-speed treadmill pace” that I operated under before I retired.
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The most significant change is the ability to do what I want and when I want and the ability to pick up and go at a minute’s notice.
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I guess the most significant change in my life since retiring revolves around some health concerns. I have recently been diagnosed with some kind of an autoimmune disease and I have been experiencing a lot of soft tissue pain around the joints. Being retired has enabled me to actively address these health concerns in a pro-active way. I spend a lot of my time at the gym with a trainer who has tailored a physical workout program to suit my needs and I have been pursuing an interest in holistic medicine. I have the time to explore the benefits of holistic medicine and have been buying more organic, raw foods and preparing healthier recipes. I am spending time on trying to make myself well!
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Less stress. Less income.
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After a good year plus, I sleep, eat, and exercise more. I have traveled to Mexico four times, attended a one week long yoga retreat, joined the Rhodo Club, started a small plant nursery, read many interesting novels and plant and garden texts. I have no fear or wonder where my friendships lie or where I will get social contact and intellectual stimulation. I honestly don’t know how I fit work outside the home into my life! There are many significant changes. The primary one is a change in attitude about money. I have pretty much spent all my savings getting the nursery and greenhouse business going and I don’t worry about that. I’m lucky in that my spouse is very supportive of the enterprise and has a steady, good paying job now and will continue to work until he is 60 when he can collect a pension.
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We are much more active than before and are involved with the BC Seniors games.

How are you using the skills you gained throughout your career in education?

I was working in senior management so I have transferred many skills to my at-home nursery business, and dare say managing the household: budgeting, planning, systems development (routines), relationship development, cooperative ventures and networking, learning new computer programs, etc. I have learned so much about plants and the people in the industry; they are helpful, down-to-earth professionals.
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I don’t actually think I am using them that much, beyond my continued delight in people. I was quite an innovative teacher in that I started one of the first multi-aged classes in Vancouver, worked for ten years with gifted students and worked hard to develop programs to meet their needs. I help with a Heritage Educational collection, and am a member of a book club.
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I am still using some educational skills through my Teacher On Call (subbing) work. Additionally, I conduct the Community Band two to three times a month on average and also teach an eleven-year-old girl piano once a week.
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Presently, I am substitute teaching, primarily at one secondary school, and loving it. My enthusiasm for work has returned. I have more patience and understanding for not only the challenges met by high needs students, but also because of my previous work experience, I am able to mentor and provide support for teacher colleagues.
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I have completely withdrawn from the education system. Many of my friends are in China teaching English. I have no time for volunteer work although I fantasize about doing some work with young mothers. There is no time, as I now spread myself between Alberta and Ontario helping my grandsons grow into well rounded academics. Ha!!!
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I guess I am using my research/planning skills to explore alternative medicines and treatments to help me become more knowledgeable about autoimmune disorders and how to manage the pain. While teaching, I always enjoyed the researching and planning of topics and I am finding this new area of interest quite rewarding.
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I can’t say that the skills I learned/gained throughout my career in education have changed my life in any way—either positively or negatively. I’m still who I am and always was and my personal life is run the same way.
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By writing articles on nutrition for the press, by being on the executive of the Seniors Games and by being responsible for producing their Newsletter.

Carol and Enise are the creators of a series of pre-retirement and post-retirement planning workshops: Transition to Retirement: The Uncharted Course©, Recently Retired: Charting a New Course© and Ideas ... Enhanced and Advanced©, and authors of Transition to Retirement: The Uncharted Course. Previous articles on retirement may be viewed in back issues at www.CanadianTeacherMagazine.com.