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COVID AND WORK PART 2: THE END OF A CAREER
By Sonia Huggins
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Sonia Huggins is a former teacher who recently gave up her profession in order to stay safe and keep her family safe.
Covid-19 takes a different kind of toll
And that was it … the end of my beloved career … my dream job … resigned and now retired. Covid-19’s latest “victim.” I was a teacher … I am a teacher … who am I? My identity was tied up in my job although I am a mother, a wife, a daughter and much more, but the job defined who and what I represented in my life.
Growing up in a West Indian (Jamaican) household was all about educational success for me and my only sibling. We were groomed and encouraged to pursue meaningful careers. A university degree was not optional but expected. My parents even exempted us from household daily chores. Becoming … was more important than anything.
So after I finished my degree at McGill University, I became a teacher.
A PRESTIGIOUS POSITION
I remember the first day a student called me “Miss.” I almost went into a coma, as I excitedly told my mother (who was so proud of her firstborn’s career choice). A teacher was a prestigious position in our extended Jamaican family and I knew it! Forevermore, I would refer to myself as teacher at the start of any conversation. “I am a teacher!” I was loud and proud about it. I spent the first 10 years of my 30-year teaching career in the elementary system, teaching English, science, math and ethics. I loved every interaction with my students. I was a child’s first and last teacher (kindergarten and Grade 6). I was privy to the real ways young people learned. I realized I was really good at helping kids find their true potential.
In the last 20 years I used my lifelong passion and training in dance to create a dance program in a high school that had never experienced that art. It was so successful in the first year that my principal built a beautiful studio for the program.
AN EXPANDED PROGRAM
From the start, the program attracted students who just wanted to learn and experience dance as well as those who already had some technique. As time went on, the program expanded to all grade levels. I also ran an extracurricular dance activity to accommodate students who wanted to perform and compete.
Our competitive teams did very well in annual competitions. Students from the team went on to dance semi-professionally and professionally after they left high school. The real jewel of the program was the annual Dance Show, which was the talk
of the community. With its professional lights and sound, its many guest artists and complete participation by all students in the program (150 dancers), the show regularly attracted more than 1,000 people over two days.
WALKING AWAY
I walked away from everything. Why? Covid-19 hit. After teachers and students were sent home in March, the provincial government began to deal with this pandemic. Then my city, Montreal, became a hot spot and stayed that way.
As the summer months wore on, the government started looking at ways to return to school in August that made no sense to me – ways that were extremely unsafe for teachers as well as students.
Students would not be required to wear masks in the classroom but teachers would be – thus protecting the students, but what about the teachers? This and other examples of unsafe and continually shifting policies brought me to the devastating realization: I could no longer continue my dream job, period.
Leaving my profession was a life-changing situation. The grief was, and is, strong and long. I’ve reached out to friends and family to help negotiate this new path.
This pandemic really changed my life. I don’t know what’s ahead but I have the time to review, reflect, and consider new goals. I’m not done yet!
