Identity Crisis at 63?
You’re “supposed to” be done with your teenage identity crisis and know who you are by the time you’re 30 or so. That was true for me. I figured out a career at 26 and had an amazing job in my field at 34. I retired in June of 2014 at 63 years old and am once again trying to figure out who I am.
For people like me who are lucky enough to have a good long-term job, our identity becomes closely linked to that career. When someone asked me who I am, I usually responded “math professor at Indiana U. of PA.” But is that really who I am? How do I answer that question today? This is a time to explore, much like when I was a teenager. What else do I like besides math teaching? Have I done enough of math education in my life? Do I have many other interests that have disappeared over the years?
I would encourage the reader to think of whether “who you are” is represented by what you do with your job. Have you taken one interest among many and turned it into “who you are?” For me, considering that in college I took only 2 semesters of math and no education courses, maybe math education took a larger part of my life than it should have. Or maybe not.
My IUP career reached a truly wonderful conclusion last Saturday when I had a retirement party at the Coney in Indiana, PA. My wife Margaret made a list of everyone who attended and counted over 80 people. The party was exactly what I was hoping for, very short speeches, lots of interaction among people who maybe didn’t know each other really well, and plenty of Labatt’s Blue and chicken wings. The traditional retirement party is a sit down dinner often without alcohol and with very long speeches. This works for some people but definitely not me. I think I got to talk with every one of those 80+ people at some point. It brought together so many facets of my time at IUP – K-12 teachers, math professors, students, friends, and lots of others.
I’m writing this in Boston waiting for my flight to Iceland. I’ll be home in 34 days. Lots of blogs upcoming.
feldmanlarry 
Mar 26, 2015 @ 00:06:50
Larry, when I think of you, math professor at IUP is not my first thought. You are a great conversationalist, terrific storyteller, funny as hell, and a great listener. You have more energy and motivation than many 20 year olds.
I do not define myself based on my job. That is one aspect of me–fairly small actually. I am a historian, a book worm, a survivor. A lot of other things. My job is lucky to have me 🙂
Enjoy your trip. Iceland sounds wonderful!
Mar 31, 2015 @ 04:42:08
I’m waiting for the train from Amsterdam to Paris. Thanks for the encouragement!
Mar 27, 2015 @ 12:50:32
Dear Larry.. Your humor and sweet personality are mostly part of who you are.. Math is an outgrowth of your attributes.. Lucky are the students who will remember you for just being you with your patience in teaching. Thanks for doing this blog.. Wish I could figure out to do that.. Look forward to the next one.
Mar 31, 2015 @ 04:43:50
WordPress has become much easier than it was 4 years ago. Maybe you should give it a try. However your system of sending emails works well. I enjoy your posts. I’m waiting for the train from Amsterdam to Paris. Thanks for the encouragement.