Thoughts on Retirement

What I like about being in the College of Education is that we really give time to celebrate and honor our retirees. The dean and the VIPs under her would set aside a day (they would usually coincide it with the COE general faculty meeting) to treat the people who have spent most of their lives in service (30-40 years of being in the university)

Today, we gave tribute to Prof. Lazarito and Dr. Morano. As the older faculty members gave their speeches and praises for the retirees, we the young faculty can't help but think about our own retirement. Even if we still have many years ahead, I can now imagine how my retirement party is going to be like. In my case, I'll still have 30 years to go before I officially retire and perhaps if God is good and if I'll still be healthy, then maybe He'll allow me to give service to the univ for 35 more years. I hope that my friends will still be around to give me a nice and warm speech about how I was as a teacher, as a friend, and as person in general. Maybe that time, I'll be crippled by arthritis and I'll probably be straining my ear to hear what the people are saying. Worse, with how I abuse and overuse my eyes now, I'll probably be half-blind by then!

Even then, I can't help but be amazed with the retirees. They've given so much to the univ and along the way of many years of teaching, they've built friendships stronger than any ties. I like that. I know I've made several friends already and I do hope we'll retire together. When that time comes, I'll be as happy to give speeches on their retirement party.