Terence R. Mitchell received the 2021 Distinguished Retiree Excellence in Community Service award for extensive work in animal conservation education at Woodland Park Zoo, the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and the Alligator River Wildlife Refuge on Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

Terry’s career as a professor of management and organization might not lead to you expect the deep commitment to animal conservation that has been such a large part of his retirement. In fact, in his volunteer work Terry found a way to combine his travel goals, his love of animals, and his professional background in unexpected ways. He had frequently spent time in Hawaii and North Carolina, and he wanted to build extensive visits to both places into his retirement. But he knew he needed to be busy and have a sense of purpose while he was there. He had enjoyed interacting with the volunteers at the visitors’ centers in both places, and as he began to volunteer he found that it provided the interpersonal interactions that he had been missing since he stopped teaching.

Along the way, his somewhat casual interest developed into something more serious. As he became more involved, Terry learned more about the conservation message of the organizations, and his commitment to the work grew. “I think that’s when I moved into a different level of commitment to the work, and to really believing in the goals and what people are doing at the zoo and wildlife sanctuaries. And so, once that became part of the picture, it became more of a kind of passion.” Terry also found that he could draw on his professional skills and knowledge to help the organizations strengthen their volunteer programs.

We asked Terry what advice he would have for a retiree in the sometimes-uncomfortable and unsettled early stage of retirement. Terry reminds us, “There are a just handful of major life events, and retirement is one of them, and you don’t know what it’s like until you get there. And there’s not just one specific way to do it right… There’s not a right way to do it, there’s your way to do it, and that’s what you’ve got to sort out.”