Embracing a life of partial retirement, Pack Member Sue Campbell, age 65, has stepped away from 28 years of teaching middle school science and is enjoying her newfound time to walk more by herself, allowing her mind to move to where it needs to be. As a teacher who’s always made her students the priority, she’s using her walking practice as a way to put herself and her health first, providing a centering or anchoring time for her.
We recently chatted with Sue to get to know her better and here’s just some of what we discovered.
Where she walks:
Sue lives in the rural town of Atwater, CA, in the San Joaquin Valley. This slow-paced and quiet community gives her a calm and serene place to walk.
Don’t put away the red pens just yet.
Sue hasn’t stepped away from the front of the classroom completely. Her focus now is on math and science undergrads at UC Merced who also have the dream to teach. We couldn’t think of a better example for these aspiring teachers!
When she’s not teaching…
Jewelry-making and nature journaling keep this lady busy when she’s out of the classroom, and she loves that she now has more time to make it happen now that she’s partially retired.
Makes you wonder…
Her most unusual find while walking? A lone shoe. Perhaps someone was looking for their Prince Charming.
Her BIG fave?
Shrimp. Sue can’t get enough, whether sauteed with mushrooms and garlic or chilled in a shrimp cocktail.
Her motivation trick…
To tell herself to just walk for 5 or 10 minutes. Once she gets going, she usually finds her mojo and triples that time!
How she stays true…
Sue keeps her core values close to her heart and doesn’t let others sway her. She recalls a time when, after a hard day of teaching, she was advised to not care so much. Sticking to her truth, she let her students know that she wasn’t going to give up on them. The result? An appreciative class and kids that finally saw that someone was willing to try and fight for them.
It’s no wonder that her favorite song is…
…Great is Thy Faithfulness. “It always reminds me that God is always with me in every season of my life.” Just like her faithfulness to her students.
Words to live by.
“I no longer worry too much about what others think about me. I am old enough to have had many experiences in my life and young enough to enjoy experiences yet to come.”
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