Retired not Expired!!
Mariella Scicluna marked her retirement from De La Salle Junior School, Malta, with message to the school community reflecting on her career and looking forward to the next chapter.
The penny has finally dropped this is The penny has finally dropped this is officially my last school year and June 2021 is my final month in school surrounded by staff and students. This has been my daily reality for the past 30 + years. Whereas you will be leaving school on the 25th of June for your summer holidays I will be retiring and God willing starting a new way of life, a new adventure, hopefully doing the things that I have been postponing and finally crossing off the to do goals on my bucket list.
I hope to attend courses that are solely for my pleasure and fulfilment with no exams and assignments, I would like to draw and paint, a hobby I shelved for so many years. I want to travel and not have to wait for the school holidays, I want to dedicate time to voluntary work something I loved to do but because of other commitments did not have the energy to pursue. I am also looking forward to the simple things in life, just being with my family, waking up later than 5:00am, having a quiet breakfast, reading a book, tending to my plants, and not forgetting to water them and or overcompensating with too much water.
However, there are so many things I will miss - my colleagues who have become my second family. I will miss you dearly, the laughs, the worry, the stress of a day at school, the planning, the excitement. The easy camaraderie that came so naturally to us. I will miss the Year 1 and Year 2 corridor and my office which has been the refuge of so many students and adults alike. Most of all I will miss the constant questions from students “Ms Scicluna is it time to go home?” “How, many minutes?” “Is 5 minutes like a million?” “Ms Scicluna when is break time?” “I am hungry, and the teacher is still giving a lesson!” “Ms Scicluna when is PE?” All this thanks to my office being strategically placed next to the toilets so a quick visit to my office before or after visiting the toilets is a routine for several students. A little chat, a little wave, a little encouragement.
I will miss the traditional activities in school, the Christmas concert, the Christmas Pantomime, the Crowning of our Lady, the Year 2 commemoration of their Holy Communion, sports days, Founder’s Day, and the gym bursting at the seams with students of all ages, boys rosy cheeked only knee high to an ant and others almost 2 metres tall and sprouting facial hair. Activities like these always brings tears to my eyes, a mixture of pride and happiness of belonging to this community and the atmosphere of energy and vitality these young children and adolescents emit is tangible. Pity that because of COVID 19 we missed so many of these beautiful celebrations.
So, although it is difficult to accept that I have passed my ‘best before date’ the wonderful memories will live with me forever. I look forward to taking many of the lessons I learned along the way into my retirement. This new chapter in my life is one I embark on with great excitement and with trepidation. So, summer 2021 I can say I am a retired teacher and vaccinated.
This quote I came across sums up exactly what I am feeling.
You get a strange feeling when you leave a place.
Like you will not only miss the people you love, but
you miss the person you are at the time and place.
Because you will never be this way ever again.
Live Jesus in our hearts, forever!
Mariella Scicluna
June 2021
PS, please keep me in your prayers. I promise to keep you in mine.
