Click photo to enlarge
Green Island School deputy principal Joy Harahap makes the
most of her last days of teaching at the school before she
retires at the end of this week. Photo by Linda Robertson.
"There is always change in teaching - always something
new that keeps you challenged."
Green Island School deputy principal Joy Harahap may have
been teaching at the 156-year-old school for 26 years, but it
should come as no surprise the time has whizzed by for her.
"Although the surroundings are the same, no day is the same.
"That's the nature of teaching," she said.
Mrs Harahap's 36-year teaching career began at Bluff School
in 1973 and will end this week, when she retires from Green
Island School.
She recalled her first day at the school.
Her husband, Siddik Harahap, had died suddenly while they
were living in Auckland, and she had moved to Dunedin to be
nearer family.
"It felt like home; it was the right place for me.
"But I had no intention of staying here for 26 years."
"It's funny how life has its twists and turns.
"It was a traumatic time, but it gave me an opportunity to
further my career."
It was not long before Mrs Harahap was promoted to deputy
principal and enveloped by the local community, which became
her "extended family".
While the 60-year-old said she would miss her "second home
and family", she was looking forward to moving into a new
phase of her life.
She planned to move a 1911 cottage from Waimate to her
sister's farm in Enfield, North Otago, where she will spend
her retirement years.
When asked if it would be easy to give up teaching so easily,
she said no, and did not discount a return to the profession,
if only on a part-time basis.
- john.lewis@odt.co.nz
