The United States will face a wave of teachers retiring from classrooms in the next decade.While this is a serious issue, another phenomenon is also occurring.Studies show that many Baby Boomers retiring from other careers are seeking new careers as teachers.One such person is Ted and this is his story.
Ted graduated from college in the sixties and went on to graduate school to study philosophy.He taught at a small college for five years and loved the experience.But at a certain point in his life he changed careers and worked in business until he retired at age 60.He explains that working in business was financially rewarding and provided opportunities for his family, but although he enjoyed it and worked hard, it was not intellectually stimulating.
When he retired, his intentions were to become a consultant, but a two-month break opened his eyes to the fact that he didn’t want to reenter the stressful world of business.His sabbatical allowed him to decompress from that environment and to reconnect with an old dream,He realized that what he really wanted was to teach again.
Today he spends his days reading, researching, and writing articles and a book.He enjoys book clubs, lectures, and getting together with like-minded friends.Although he left a teaching job to live in England with his wife for three years, he now tutors a college student from the Dominican Republic. Ted is thoroughly enjoying this “life of the mind.”
Robin's Story
Travel is often the first thing that people fantasize about when they think of their retirement years. It's not surprising that when given newfound freedom from full-time work, that exploring the world would be appealing. Baby Boomers are seasoned travelers who are seeking adventure travel opportunities to exotic locations or with educational opportunities. They are on a search for meaningful experiences.
Robin is a frequent flyer to places around the United States and to Mexico, Europe, and Russia. She still hopes to travel to Bulgaria and to Chile. Where others may make their travel plans months ahead of time, Robin often seizes upon a bargain airline fare and grabs her bag for the upcoming weekend. What about finding a hotel? Robin calls a friend for she has made friends around the world. And for her that is what travel is all about.
She recently returned from three weeks in England and stayed with several different friends. She explains her love of travel as the desire to "just spend as much time with loved ones as I can so they really know it when I'm with them, how important it is, just the everyday with them. I really treasure that."
While Robin's trips may not include some Boomers' craving for the physical test of climbing the highest mountains or learning how to drive an Indy race care, she shares the desire to have an authentic experience. She doesn't want to be a typical tourist who checks museums off a list or takes pictures without really seeing. She likes to "soak up the culture" by going to "cook, go to a grocery store, go to a cafe, and get to know the neighbors and how they make the cookies. I just want to be accepted into their culture." For Nancy, the adventure is in rediscovering that "people are the same everywhere."
Bob's Story
Bob looked forward to his retirement from his long career in sales. The long hours and frequent travel were once exhilarating, but in recent years he found that he was not as excited about traveling to faraway destinations. He was anxious to spend time with his family who had sacrificed a lot during his time away from home.
At first Bob was busy at home during the first few weeks of retirement. He had paperwork and service awards and mementos of his career to sort through. When he finally had some time to relax, he called a few colleagues that were still at his old company. They often ended the conversation saying they had to get together, but he could tell they were really too busy.
His wife still worked and had no plans to retire for several more years. She had reentered the workforce as a human resource manager after many years of raising their children and she was having too much fun to retire. When she came home from work, Bob often had dinner ready for her which she enjoyed, but she was rarely up for going out or much conversation.
They had three children and the oldest was married with a new baby, while the younger two were still in high school. Bob wished he could visit his new grandson, but his daughter lived in another state and was too busy to invite him to stay overnight. His other children never seemed to be home -- they were always at school, at a friend's house, or a party.
It didn't take Bob to realize that he was lonely. After so many years of earning a living for his family he was beginning to feel like he missed out on developing closer relationships with his wife and children. Not only that, but except for his colleagues at work, he never had time to make other friends outside of work. His wife had friends she met over the years through the children's school, the neighborhood, her gym, and a local environmental group, but Bob never made these kinds of connections. Without them he felt isolated and started to get depressed.
Bob attended a seminar on retirement issues that soon got him back on track. He realized that it wasn't too late to create a plan to help him replace the social connections he had at work. After some reflection, he identified a couple of interests he thought he might enjoy and set out to find out if his community had groups of like-minded people. It took some time, but Bob eventually found a few people whose company he enjoyed. And the new projects he began working on reenergized him as well. The best part was that his wife didn't feel the pressure to be his one and only relationship and the time they spent together was now much more enjoyable. Bob was on the right path to a successful retirement.
Doris's Story
When I first met Doris and heard her story I remember thinking that if anyone deserved a leisure-filled retirement it was Doris. She married while in college and had a child soon after graduating. When her marriage dissolved after four years, she was left with three young children to support. For the next eighteen years she worked full-time and raised her children.
By her own description, these were both exciting and trying times. When she remarried after her children were grown, Doris looked forward to a more relaxing lifestyle but several family tragedies prevented that. She found herself working full-time while being the primary caregiver to three relatives. It wasn't until twenty years later when she was no longer needed to provide care for these relatives that Doris retired and moved to a new state. It was time for her to start creating a life for herself.
Doris needed to find something to do with her time that would be meaningful and she needed a new social network since she was in a new community. She found that she didn't have much in common with the people she met at church or the local senior center. She took a couple of courses at the community college that she enjoyed but although the students she met were fun to talk to, Doris knew that she needed to make friends her own age.
One day Doris read an article in the newspaper about a Learning in Retirement Institute at a nearby college. The idea of a group of people her own age who shared her desire for intellectual stimulation intrigued her. She joined the Institute and soon was not only enjoying the classes, but also became involved in the running of the organization and even teaching some classes.
After a very difficult life, Doris could have taken a negative attitude towards her retirement years, but she chose to pursue educational opportunities that provided her life with new meaning. She reports that this time of personal growth and contribution is the happiest time of her life.
"It has been an intellectual joy to be a part of a Learning in Retirement Institute. This experience has provided great stimulation and satisfaction and has enriched my life. The desire to acquire knowledge is one of the best medicines and having a sense of community and belonging at this stage of life is so rewarding." Doris
Cathy's Story
After over forty years as a registered nurse, Cathy looked forward to her retirement. She liked her job, but it was hard work and the many changes in the healthcare industry didn't help. The physical strain of her day-to-day duties left her exhausted at the end of her hospital shift. As Cathy described her retirement party, she also explained that she would miss the patients and her colleagues, but she was ready for a little rest and relaxation. She joked about being on permanent vacation -- a real woman of leisure.
The first few months of retirement were a blur as Cathy completed a few house projects and visited grandchildren. Then her husband gave her the biggest retirement surprise of all -- a long dreamed-of trip to London. She had always wanted to visit London and now she saw all the sights she had read about. Cathy knew she had made the right decision to retire -- just look at all the fun she was having.
A year after the trip to London, Cathy knew something was wrong. At first she couldn't figure it out, but then she realized that what she was feeling was boredom. She thought that retirement was going to be like a vacation, but now she realized that her vacations in the past were mostly exciting because she wasn't at work. And London was a longtime dream, but she couldn't take a trip like that again anytime soon. Her days were no longer full, and leisure just wasn't what she thought it would be. What was she going to do?
After some soul-searching, Cathy decided to go back to work. But this time it would be on her terms. It took her a while, but she eventually found a part-time job working in a small clinic in the next town. Working three mornings a week gave her days a bit of structure and purpose and she soon found that the rest of her week began to feel like a vacation. She began to truly enjoy her retirement.
David's Story
David recently wrote to me about what he's been doing since his retirement last summer. He was a full professor in the Education Department at a New England university and now is enjoying his retirement which he calls an "extended vacation." He earned his doctorate in political science at Berkeley, researched and wrote several books, and taught undergraduate and graduate students. He had made no real plans for this time of his life, but was ready for some time off after years in academia.
And then something unexpected happened. David picked up the camera that his family had given to him as a gift and began to take some pictures. He had never taken a picture before he claims, but began to play with it near his home and on a winter trip to Savannah. When his wife asked for a framed picture he visited the local camera shop. As he was selecting some frames, the store owner happened by and said, "these are very good pictures, you have real talent." David replied, "Don't say that to me. I'm retired!"
His next stop was at the bank and the teller asked to see the pictures he was carrying. Before you know it, the bank manager was looking them over and asked if he would do a show at the bank. He said, "No, I'm retired!" Despite his wife's urging him to reconsider, David remained adamant that he wouldn't do a show. After a couple of weeks he finally agreed.
A few days before the show, after picking up his framed photographs, he needed some items from the art supply store. The employees asked to see his photographs. Before he left, David had received another invitation to do a show.
As David explained his feelings to me, he had written several books, but pictures are "way too personal." He went on to say, "Books were a result of a very good Berkeley education and many years of practice. The picture thing is a constant act of discovery.
Although he didn't set out with a plan for his retirement, it is clear that David has found a new outlet for creativity and self-discovery. Many people do find that during this stage of life they have more time for artistic expression. It is not unusual for someone who has lived a life of cerebral pursuits to find new pleasure in an activity that allows them to explore an untapped creative side of their personality.
David says that it doesn't matter to him whether this newfound success as a photographer continues or not, because he is enjoying it and it is a fun part of his "vacation."
Displayed here are just a few of David's photographs. Enjoy!
Tom's Story
When I first met Tom, he was an academic advisor working with adults students who returned to college to continue their education. He was a great motivator for these students and eventually he moved into positions with more authority and administrative duties. Over the years, he worked at several different institutions of higher education, always successful in his efforts to help adult students meet their academic goals.
But Tom had a secret -- one that he almost didn't admit to himself. The secret was a dream that he held since childhood. Growing up during the sixties, he fell in love with the music of the times. This music was always a part of him throughout his college years, but he was a practical young man who knew that music was a tough business. And so he ventured on a secure career path as an educator. As time went by, Tom always tried to fit music into his life. He wrote articles on the subject and occasionally was even fortunate enough to meet some of his childhood idols. And then it happened. After a twenty-five-year career in academia, he decided that he could no longer push music into the back of his life. He took the leap into the scary void of career reinvention. Tom left his safe, full-time job to manage the merchandising for a well-known member of the most popular Girl Group of the 1960s. And he never looked back.
Today Tom is a successful life coach, motivational speaker, and artist manager, representing a roster of twelve eclectic performers, ranging from classical musicians and jazz artists, to a percussionist, an actress, and members of several of the legendary Girl Groups from the 1960s. His latest venture is a museum exhibition of 1960s pop culture memorabilia and accompanying lecture series, which debuted at the Lockhart Gallery at the State University of New York at Geneseo on March 1, 2007.
Tom's leap into the unknown eventually led him to living his dream. It came at great cost and sacrifice, but he knows it was worth it.
“Surviving and living your life successfully takes courage, and we are continually presented with great opportunities disguised as unsolvable problems,” says Tom. “Learn from the turtle—it only makes progress when it sticks its neck out.”
I met Joe a few years ago and he told me his life story. He started his career when the field of computers was just developing. It was a fascinating and exciting time to launch a career, start a family, and build a home. His career took up much of his time and his wife raised the children and maintained the home.
After thirty years in the computer industry and with the majority of those years with one employer, Joe started to notice some of his older colleagues were reaching the age of retirement. Some of them retired the day they reached 65, while others were being asked to retire early by the company.
Joe knew some of these people very well -- they were his friends. He realized that most of them didn't know what to do with themselves in retirement. They missed the structure of the work day, the decisions they had to make, the status of their title, and the connections with their colleagues. Although many played golf several times a week, it no longer had the same diversionary quality as when it was an escape from work. At home they found themselves in the way as their wives didn't need their "help" after managing the home for so long without them.
Joe didn't want the same thing to happen to him. He began to think about what he could do to prevent this and decided on a process of "gradual degradation." Seeing that I was a bit taken aback at this term, he quickly explained that it was a term used in relation to computers so that they wouldn't crash. He wanted to find options apart from work that would fill his needs so that he wouldn't crash at retirement.
After some trial and error, Joe found that he enjoyed giving back to his community. He hadn't had the opportunity to do this while his family was growing up and he was busy with work, but he started volunteering at his church. Gradually he became more and more involved. He also obtained his real estate license and sold homes on a part-time basis.
When Joe did retire from his long-time, full-time career he was ready. He had planted his own roots in the community and he had a part-time career that he soon developed into his own commercial real estate business. And he still had room for leisure activities with his friends, his wife, and his grandchildren.
Joe's path to retirement was successful because he had a plan before he even reached retirement. Now he is finding that it is one of the happiest and most meaningful times of his life. He truly discovered the best of his life.
