There are 15 days until commencement: that’s my unofficial retirement date. The true date is at the end of the summer, 17 years from when I started. Meanwhile I head toward the end of the semester, waiting for overdue papers, papers that are still due, and a mountain of grading to get through before I can truly relax.
I also have a lot of setting up to do in my day-to-day classroom (see photo). And I’m sorting through my bookshelf, donating some things to the campus library, and passing other volumes on to students who may find a particular work interesting or useful.
My goal is to have my office packed up for the most part by the end of the semester. (I don’t include all this the several boxes I’m bequeathing to my successor.) And I should be able to make at least one trip to take the rest of it away. This all seems to have a finality to it, but as I have said to my students, “I’m not dead. I’m still around.” They have my contact information, and can still count on me for advice as needed.
What is the plan for retirement? Travel and creative projects! And I’ve got a couple of other things in the hopper. We’ll just have to see!
MUSOFYR 