I have a Master's Degree in English, with sub majors in sociology and education. My passion was always English and Composition. After my Master's, I took enough hours to be 1/2 way to a PHD. That had to stop for family reasons. I never wanted to be anything but a classroom teacher, and I worked my passion for 42 years. In an exclusive private school I taught AP English Literature and Composition to 12th graders. I taught AP English Language and Composition for 11th graders, and taught Honors English for 10th graders. In addition to the classroom, I coached Oral Interpretation, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Competitive Composition
I also taught college classes when it was called English 101 (the beginning English class required for college freshmen). At the same college, I taught high school students from four counties in a program called Upward Bound. This brought together students in poverty areas who had never had anyone in their families attend college. I taught them English and Composition every Saturday for four years and six weeks in the summer. Then the program was terminated.
I also taught Boy Scouts in the summer so that they could get their Communication Badge (that was before computers). I have taught Sunday School and Bible School. My whole life has revolved around teaching.
I often make typographical errors because I never had typing (keyboarding as it's called now). I hunt and peck because I attended an excellent college prep high school. I took Latin, not typing or anything related to business.
I intended to die teaching. I thought I would probably be scanning a poem or teaching Theatre of the Absurd or giving an AP Prep test and would just drop dead when I was 100 years old. But The Good Lord had other plans that meant I could no longer teach.
It was all I ever wanted to do. I would have done it for free! So every day I do grieve for what I thought would be, and then I think of something else realizing it was not meant for me to continue. I do not consider myself retired because learning, researching, reading, and writing continue to be my passions.
I continue to take classes when it's time so that I will always have an active Teaching Certificate. I will never let that lapse, if I can prevent it. I could tell you more, but this is sufficient and is more information than you wanted to know.
Carol, @retiredteacher
Volunteer Mentor