End of term

When I wrote this piece back in June 2015 – on the occasion of the closing of the final term of my final academic year at the illustrious London boys’ school for which it was my privilege to have worked for getting on for a decade immediately prior to retirement – I certainly did not expect that I would find myself almost three years later experiencing yet another term-end.

Neither – of course – did I envisage myself ever working again. This post was to have signaled a final farewell to all that!

‘Never‘ (according to the wisdom of American football coach Jon Gruden) ‘say never to nothing!’. A swift perusal of the InterWebNet reveals that he is far from alone in offering this opinion.

So – my first term back at work finished last Friday, with just the final exam to come tomorrow (Monday). I then have some marking and course development to attend to before my term contract expires at the end of April. I have already been approached several times about doing some further teaching in the autumn (fall!) – which would actually suit me rather well. Indeed, I was asked if I would care to go full time – at which I happily drew the line.

My current thinking is to try for a contract for the autumn term and then see if I can also get one for the spring term of next year (the which Canadians somewhat pessimistically call the ‘winter’ term – though perhaps in other parts of Canada that is more apt!). By that time my state pension will have kicked in and I will probably feel that enough is enough…

But as the man says – “Never…!”

I have found myself enjoying this experience to an unexpected degree. I have always taken pleasure from teaching and with post-secondary students there are few issues of discipline or motivation. I only work two days a week and even then they are not consecutive. I am left very much to my own devices and have been pleasantly surprised by just how much knowledge I seem to have accumulated over the decades – even if I were not consciously trying so to do at the time. On top of everything, being in a unionised post (and I find myself almost accidentally in a union for the first time in my life) my qualifications and experience all count toward my remuneration – which is as a result not to be sniffed at.

Well – I will certainly not be doing any sniffing!