School's In

Schools In

Get a grip man! It’s August 22, 2011 and I felt a very weird emotion. I was sad because I knew I would not be teaching school this fall. This was very unusual for me. I have not taught school on a regular basis for about fifteen years now. I did some substitute teaching from 1997 to 2002. I really didn’t want to give up substitute teaching because I really enjoyed it. The only reason I stopped was because I now had a full time job in a different field. I wanted to do both but it just created too many conflicts with my new job.

So in 2002 I very reluctantly retired from substitute teaching. I very much liked my new job, the pay was reasonable and I got group insurance benefits. It was probably more a decision of the head rather than the heart. What consoled me was the fact that I still got to teach classes to men with psychiatric disabilities as part of my job description. Needless to say this was what I enjoyed most about being a mental health professional.

Well, in March of 2011 I was retired again. This time I was a retired mental health professional. I wouldn’t mind staying retired but at this time it is just not feasible. My question now is what do I do next in my working life? I have considered several other possibilities but the thought occurred to me, would it be possible to return to substitute teaching? I ended up applying for work as a substitute teacher starting this fall. I guess I’ll know in a week or two whether or not I have been accepted.