Resignation (def.) – an act of giving up a position.
Retiring (def.) – to leave one’s job and cease to work, typically upon reaching the normal age for leaving employment.
Having never done either prior to June 1, 2020 and in my defense and due to sheer ignorance on my part, please let me state, officially, for the record…
I have applied for Service Retirement from Ridge High School effective July 1, 2020.
My previous blog referenced resignation which would have been my desire if the offer to become a helper/mentor in the fall was accepted. As it was deemed unnecessary and once I, more clearly, understood the difference in “R” words, I was able to clarify the request for all parties concerned.
As I also previously stated in the last blog, reimagining and redefining are two things I am not interested in doing at this point in my Choral Conducting career. Ours is a wonderfully communicative field, ripe with feelings and emotions and memories built with every rehearsal interaction and every melody sung. It is neither distant nor can it be communicated effectively through a computer screen.
For years I’ve told my students that I would leave when I felt I had nothing left to give. On my own terms. In my own time. On the crest of a wave. This realization hit in Mid-May. All I wanted to do was rehearse and all I was able to do was try to create meaningful, grade-producing activities to keep those in my choirs engaged. Really difficult.
So in writing today, I hope to clarify the two terms with which I began this blog for anyone else who may think the terms interchangeable. They’re not. And I am not resigning from Ridge for another position. I am retiring as Choral Director of Ridge High School after a long and rewarding run.
To answer the all-too-often repeated question of “What are you going to do now?“, the short answer will be found in offering to fill the needs of friends, family and colleagues. Can I run an errand for you? Can I research a topic for a lesson you’d like to present? Can I create Sibelius rehearsal tracks for you to share with your singers? I brought home nearly four decades of teaching materials which may, or may not, be of use elsewhere. I’m a helper. I’m a mentor. I have created and organized my world of choral music in a way that may be beneficial to the next generation of teachers. Not everything will go out of date. Basic Music is Basic Music. I can’t see myself not helping, especially when I look ahead to what may be more of the same next Fall.
Eventually, Rick and I will travel. There is a list of places we’d like to see and explore. The scientists are indicating that that may not be for a while yet. I look at all of this and believe it is finite. It is not for the remainder of our lifetimes. And where I was once overwhelmed by the thought of needing to “have a plan”, I am reassured by the fact that life has thrown all kinds of situations my way, and I have always landed on my feet. I trust that this decision will produce the same results.
So for now, the “plan” is to catch up on reading, do some house cleaning and purging and watch some TV. That should take me, easily, to the end of the summer at which point we shall see what opportunities present themselves in real-time.
As always, thanks for reading!
Barbara
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