Rediscovering My Identity After 42 Years in Teaching: Who Am I Now?

By Jo Ramirez, Guest Blogger

Forty-two years of teaching elementary school led to retirement. I felt ready. My husband's health had deteriorated and he needed more of my attention. I was teaching Jazzercise five days a week. And I was tired.

Retirement brought the rest and free time I had desired, increasingly, my last few years of full-time teaching. I remember my first year of retirement as a chance to catch up with my sleep. I slept, and slept, and slept.

But as I caught up on my rest and continued my other activities, I had a new dilemma: "Who am I now?"

Mrs. Ramírez, my professional identifier for more than four decades, was no more. No one addressed me that way anymore. There were no tiny voices made loud with excitement yelling it, no bright faces turning to me for structure, instruction and reassurance. Now I was Jo, Jo Ramirez, a citizen no longer on duty in the classroom trenches. I remember seeing young children at the mall and the grocery store and craving my "kid fix." Having no children, there were no grandkids to babysit.

I had temporarily lost myself.

When teachers in Florida retire, the pension plan restricts them from going back to teach for one year. Finally, when my year was over, I began substitute teaching. Being back in an elementary school as a sub happily solved the loss of identity I was experiencing.

One of my most memorable sub gigs was for an art teacher who went on maternity leave. This meant I would have her classes for a few months. But in 42 years teaching, I had never taught art.

I'm proud to say I rose to the occasion with gusto. I found all manner of craft projects in YouTube and Instagram, and came up with fun projects for the kids and for me. My students went home with handmade decorations for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. I went home recharged with creative juices.

Other sub assignments have been more traditional, filling in for teachers of the core elementary school subjects. Those gave me a good fix as well.

Jo Ramirez teaches Jazzercise four times a week at Winston Park Clubhouse, 8100 SW 132 Ave, Miami, FL

So good, in fact, that after eight years of subbing, on top of the 42 years teaching full time, I'm beginning to feel like it's time to reassess. I might continue to sub, but not as much as I have in recent years.

Schools are stressful places, and I can't help notice that students are not the same as they were 30, 20, even10 years ago. The kids seem more pampered. Schools and teachers are compelled to think of them as "customers." Substitute teachers now are seen primarily as a warm body, a place holder. The teaching part is not necessary. It's just not the same. It doesn't call for the Mrs. Ramirez that identified me for so long.

So I'm putting that identity aside and embracing one that I also love: Jo Ramirez, cruise goddess. Or rather, Jo Ramirez, Jazzercise instructor and cruise goddess. Join me for class at 6:30 pm...unless I'm at sea.

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