I would like to introduce myself. I’m Sharon, a nonfiction writer and retired university internship coordinator. Someday I will be a writer and no longer identify as a retiree from a previous job. I was finally told yesterday that I was in fact approved for disability retirement and so for now I’m willing to wear the title retiree. I will also be a writer. I don’t know when I will actually receive any money for my writing but that isn’t important. I enjoy writing and I’m learning to enjoy rewriting. I enjoy learning new skills and hope l continue to do so for a long time.
Six and a half years ago I started what I considered my perfect job – an internship coordinator in my favorite majors. The position was especially stressful during the first year. While it was like a ray of sunshine to feel good about the new job I was doing, and get paid more, it was also difficult to learn parts of my job from someone who was not easy to learn from. A linear thinker for the most part, I needed to learn one major (literally) at a time. Too much information on various issues coming at me only lead me to feel overwhelmed and unable to retain much information at all. After repeated struggles I learned the information (or where to find it) and advantageously it helped me to teach others. By the end of my internship coordinator career I had not only became an excellent academic advisor and skilled internship coordinator, but an excellent student supervisor and trainer.
Each job I have had over the last 40 years helped me build on skills I began in school or in past jobs. Over the years I have gone from being afraid in high school to take college preparatory English to not only passing the required College English exam to graduate but to being able to write and edit other people’s writing. I expect after years of writing workshops, conferences, retreats as well as assistance from good friends, I will be able to write very well or at least well enough to produce a decent book.
My years of working with everyone from prisoners, faculty, students, coworkers and family have also gave me an abundance of experiences and characters to shape my writing as well.
I look forward to meeting you as Sharon, the writer and retiree now that truly all but the last touches are left until I actually recieve my retirement pension.