Frankie Felder, M.Ed., Ph.D., retired in 2017 after a notable 30-year career that included being Clemson University’s first-ever African American dean. A former senior associate dean of Clemson’s Graduate School, Felder is now part of a memoir-writing project at the University’s 850-member Emeritus College, working with other retirees to capture and share their life experiences on paper.
Felder provides her tips on how to master retirement and never stop learning.
1. Embrace the Freedom
There’s a freedom in retirement that does not particularly exist while serving as an employee, which provides time to reflect on successes, mistakes, missed opportunities and friendships gained as well as competitors and hindrances encountered in the workplace,” Felder advised. “This freedom is a big part of what provides continued learning experiences.”
2. Write it down. Pass it around.
One way to connect with others — to help others experience the joy of the life journey — is to share personal experiences. The memoir-writing project at the Emeritus College provides an opportunity for retired faculty to share some of their experiences at Clemson University and beyond, which Felder said likely would not have happened without that structure. “I certainly would not have published my experiences,” she said. “I have chosen to write because I love research, I love learning, and I love writing. But I had to seek out that opportunity first and then be willing to let others read what I had to say.”
3. Try something new
Take on an activity you never had the time or perhaps the confidence to do when you were younger, something Felder said she’s seen plenty from her colleagues in the Emeritus College. “Join a choir, take music lessons, build an airplane, paint your house, sell your house and travel the world,” she said. “Put together old-fashioned scrapbooks of photos and memorabilia of family and community, cook new recipes, start a business, invent something, go fishing, work part time, talk to your children and grandkids. Donate money to charity, pay at least one compliment daily to someone to help lift spirits in the world, exercise and strengthen that body, work hard to stay healthy. The list is absolutely endless!”
4. Choose to choose
Don’t let go of the past. Take the time, now that you have it, to revisit or expand your interests and relationships. Taking these steps toward fulfillment in retirement, Felder said, requires exercising choice. “Choice to engage or not. To engage with the new people in your environment,” she said. “To reconnect with old friends and former colleagues from previous home, school or community environments who took different paths and with whom you have lost connections.”
5. Remember that lifelong learning is instinctive!
Perspective matters,” Felder said, “and it’s important to recognize that being a lifelong learner is not a skill we acquire. It is innate. We come into this world with the capacity to learn as we observe, to see what works and what does not. What gets interesting as we age is the perception of choice. We choose to engage or not. We choose to experience or not. It is our experiences that create options for our lives. And we choose to be grateful or not. Choosing to be grateful for our individual gifts and talents is ultimately what allows us to then share those gifts with others.”
Learn more about Clemson’s Emeritus College and find their guidebook for retirement online at clemson.edu/emerituscollege.
Glean advice below from some other members of the Clemson University Emeritus College who have tackled the following new pursuits in retirement.
1. Get a hobby job
Picking on the guitar was something psychology professor Fred Switzer did after hours, often around a bonfire or on his back porch. But in retirement, Switzer not only found fellow musicians and academic retirees to share his love of music (and coffee), but they also perform as part of a jazz band. The Any Old Time (as in, “we play any old-time music”) has been playing together for many years now, including at retirement homes, taverns, service organization meetings and more.
“Retirement really hasn’t changed my music hobby that much,” Switzer explained. “Except now I have time to explore some kinds of music I didn’t have time for before.” The band is now playing more Celtic music. “I’ve really enjoyed getting into that. I’ve also always wanted to learn Gypsy jazz, and now I have the opportunity to get into that, too.”
2. Give back
Architectural studies professor and Emeritus Professor of Planning and Landscape Architecture Don Collins leveraged his expertise to support and make construction improvements at his local fire station. He was selected as the 2022 Emeritus College Research and Scholarship Award recipient, which was established by the Emeritus College to recognize emeritus faculty members who continue to produce extraordinary research and scholarship, either in their disciplines or in new fields.
Collins retired in 2005, but since then, he has carved out an applied research niche advising architects and fire departments on the design of fire stations. He has participated in 21 fire station-related projects ranging from assessment studies to schematic designs and construction documents. Fifteen new fire stations in the United States and Canada have been brought online with his input.
He also became a volunteer firefighter with the Clemson University Fire Department, continuing a long-standing tradition of firefighting in his family.
3. Practice, practice, practice
A hobby became a retirement vocation for mechanical engineering professor Imtiaz Haque after hundreds of hours of wildlife photography. Now, the retired founding chair of Clemson’s Department of Automotive Engineering shares those animal portraits so they can become framed and displayed artwork for others to enjoy. He shares his photography with community birding organizations and has participated in community photography exhibitions. And he has even led birding field trips with the Emeritus College and helped others capture and curate their collections of wildlife photos.
4. Stay engaged through connection
Debbie Jackson served as vice provost of academic affairs and assistant to the president before retiring in 2017. Now director of the Emeritus College, Jackson noted that if your colleagues are your social network, retirement may shift these relationships, and you will need to create opportunities to stay connected.
“I know a few groups that have breakfast or lunch together once a month,” Jackson said. “If you are not a member of a community organization, consider joining one of interest to you and where your contributions will be meaningful. You do need to be careful, or you will find that you get too busy. Some people say that they get so busy that they don’t know how they ever had time to work.”
