College Record 2014

The View from (semi-)Retirement
by Jan Scriven (Administrative Secretary 1992–94,
College Secretary 1994–2012, Arts Administrator 2013–)
When retirement law changed in 2011, I had to start actively thinking about what I
wanted to do when I reached retirement age: should I carry on working as College
Secretary – a job I enjoyed, which kept me constantly active and in touch with a
community of lively minds – or should I retire gracefully and find something else
to occupy my time?
A conversation with the President helped me clarify my thoughts. I didn’t feel
ready to give up work altogether, but I did have a desire to have more freedom
and to travel while still young and fit enough to enjoy it. I was delighted when
Hermione suggested the perfect compromise: continue to work at Wolfson with
responsibility for arts and music on a part-time, flexible basis, and be free to travel
during quiet periods. The chance to continue to play a part in College life after
retiring as College Secretary was very appealing, and I am extremely grateful
to Hermione. So in December 2012, after a splendid send-off from the Wolfson
community, I moved on to a new phase in my life.
My new role as Wolfson’s Arts Administrator still left a good deal of time for me
to be ‘retired’, and this took a bit of getting used to. Tasks such as clearing out
the loft help psychologically, but they don’t offer much job satisfaction. However,
my free time was swiftly curtailed when the Development Director invited me to
help him out for three months or so. This was the perfect way to wind down from
working full-time and I still felt my knowledge was useful. But I soon realised that
I needed to draw a line under regular working and to fulfil my plans to see more of
the world. So in June last year I visited Brazil, meeting up with a Brazilian friend
in Belo Horizonte. We travelled together to Salvador, Rio, and Guaxupe, followed
by solo trips to Sao Paulo and Ouro Preto. It was an exhilarating way to start to
experience the pleasures of retirement. Returning to the UK to warm summer
weather was a bonus, and I began to appreciate the advantage of not having to be
somewhere from 9.00 till 5.00. This meant more time to re-connect with friends, to
do more yoga, more reading, and sometimes just sit in the garden doing nothing …
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