Tuesday Slice: New year no longer

 

I was in a funk again, yesterday.  The feeling was echoed by a fellow recent retiree in a text, saying that the first day back for teachers was hitting her harder than the first day back for librarians.  I responded that it made sense; she was missing the sense of community, the dopamine hit we get when we're greeted by smiles from people who appreciate our work.

But as a I puttered around all afternoon, accomplishing little to nothing, I thought it had to be more than just that.  I went to bed early, still feeling out of sorts.  When I woke up this morning, it hit me.

It's the calendar.

I would venture to say that for most of the working world, the new year starts on January first.  If your job is heavy on money management, it may begin in July or October--the beginning of your fiscal year.

For those of us who served in education, our new year has been in August or September for DECADES, even if you're a first year teacher.

Think about it:  we spend thirteen to fourteen years following a school calendar in (Pre)K through twelfth grade.  Then we spend another four years or more following the university calendar as we get our degree. There's a minimum of seventeen years of fall starts and summer breaks.

As educators, we step into the same calendar system we lived by as children.

I was an educator for thirty-three years. That's forty-nine years of living by the school calendar (I graduated with my undergrad in three years, if the math isn't mathing for you).

I was out of education for six years during that stretch, but my children attended preschool and I did some tutoring, so technically, we were living by the school calendar for at least half of that time, too.

Is it any wonder that retired educators feel out of sorts when that first August rolls around without the beginning of year fanfare?  It's like New Year's Eve without the champagne, countdown, and kisses.  We're missing the opportunity of starting anew alongside treasured colleagues and eager students. 

It's time to learn to celebrate what we've accomplished and start over whenever we want to, no matter what the calendar says.