I dislike the term “quiet quitting” for doing the basic work you are hired to do. Over the years, some of my white coworkers were quiet quitting through my different jobs/careers and some very obvious about it. We used to chuckle at one of the hourly workers who draped her purse on her arm, stood at attention staring at the clock about 5 minutes before the end of her shift, and walked out promptly on the hour.

Like many Blacks, I was raised to go over and beyond in school, my career as well other endeavors such as church, the community and even volunteer work. I nipped that in the bud in the early years of my careers.

I was fortunate to have flexibility in my teaching careers, so I put my energy and love into giving my students the quality educational experiences they deserved, but once I dismissed my classes, how long I stayed on campus was based on projects I wanted to complete. I went to mandatory meetings, but was willing to be docked if I chose to skip them in the later years when they instituted that practice.

By observing other coworkers at my job and my husband’s, I learned early in my career to always have what’s called these days a side hustle, not just for the money, but for the joy of rewarding my own effort.

I had no desire to win favor or be promoted based on merit on the job. Student success was my reward. As a matter of fact, I declined the memberships and chairmanships that were the usual paths to promotions and administrative positions that didn’t appeal to me as adding to my personal growth. I was there to serve my students even when what was best in my view was not a priority for the system.

Instead, I only wrote papers, attended conferences, mentored some new coworkers, and gave presentations I enjoyed as well as formed my own businesses while actively raising our four children along the way. When I retired, I felt satisfied and gratified with my teaching career, and slid over into giving full time to what had been my side endeavors, plus did more travel and writing.