thomas leverett weblog

retirement speech

Ten years ago I retired from full-time employment in higher education and became three-quarters time at Texas Tech as a spousal hire. In four years in Lubbock I was very successful but actually more successful in making friends and playing music than in academic or professional pursuits; nevertheless I enjoyed my different jobs and kept one of them over ten years even after I moved to New Mexico in 2016. Today we are preparing to move back to Illinois and I look back over this entire ten years and even my entire working career in academia fondly.

First I want to thank Texas Tech itself, as I know that my secret to longevity with this university was never letting them know how truly radical I am. I would advise Texas Tech to forget football since you're never going to beat the big boys like Oklahoma State and UT, but keep it up with basketball because it doesn't ruin boys' health and lives, and it's really exciting when you make it to the top. I want to thank the Writing Center itself, because some of these ten years have been rocky. Even now my old computer that has word is losing its space bar and it's just in general time to let go, even though the reason for my departure is that Tech won't pay me if I'm in Illinois, as opposed to New Mexico. And finally, I want to thank all the good friends I've made in Lubbock and since, who have made my time in the southwest very pleasant.

Working with young people in higher education is its own reward, because with everything you teach them, you can be pretty sure they will remember it and use it in the future. It's a win-win situation in that, if teaching is successful, both of you come out better people, and that's why now i look back on a life of successful interactions where everyone has come out better off. This is what I'm grateful for and this wouldn't have happened if I had, for example, gone into house building.

Thank you all for coming and I hope to see you on zoom, in Illinois, or perhaps where you are now on my possible travels through the area. We are probably moving around June 1 but I will most certainly be coming back at some point, and will try to get through Lubbock en route if I can. I miss the pretty campus, the atmosphere but most of all the friends I've made who are still there. I feel the same about New Mexico - my time here was good and I will miss it.

posted by tom @ 8:02 AM