Post-employment Keys

Leaving an institution means turning in keys. Both my daughter and I turned in keys this month—to different institutions of higher learning—after 7 years (me) and 5 years (her). You can think briefly about which post-employment keychain is whose.

Keys to the kingdom. Access to buildings and offices carries a penalty: you can always go to work. That invites working on weekends and nights. Not necessarily healthy but it sure works for the institution. The electronic version of such after-hours work is VPN, virtual private network. That's the access key to an organization's computer system for working from afar. VPN typically requires special permission from the IT department. Increasingly, institutions put certain parts of the system on the web for wide access to anyone with a password. But VPN actually logs into a computer that is on-site (and with ability to remote-control peripherals such as a printer as long as its power is on). Its the ultimate opportunity to over-work.

When workaholism feels good: I don't criticize over-work over much (colloquialism of the south). There are times when I have enjoyed being a workaholic. When an opportunity presents itself, the sane response very well may be to dedicate all of one's time to the enterprise. When I've been in that mode, I've used keys to the office on Saturdays and Sundays, and VPN from travel locations.

And then there's the time to appreciate turning in the keys: But right now, I'm enjoying my lack of keys. In photo above, set A represents my life after turning in university keys. Set B represents Katy's life after turning in university keys.

© 2008 Mary Bold, PhD, CFLE. The content of this blog or related web sites created by Mary Bold (www.marybold.com, www.boldproductions.com, College Intern Blog) is not under any circumstances to be regarded as professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Or education advice. Or marital advice. Or even a tip.