Paul Young

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Editor’s note: This essay by Paul Young, president and CEO of the National AfterSchool Association, originally appeared on a National AfterSchool Association blog.

As a music major in college, I was taught what needed to be done before and during concerts so that my audiences would ask for more. It’s every musician’s aspiration to finish a performance and hear shouts of “bravo!” and “encore!”

As an educator, I’ve approached my professional work as I was trained to do by my music mentors. My high school marching bands, fourth- and fifth-grade classrooms and schools where I served as principal were my “concert venues” where my students, staff and I worked to meet the highest expectations of our supporters. Our success bred success. The more we did together, the more we realized we could do.

Then in 2004, in my mid-50s and after many “performances,” came the age for retirement. Once I did it, I discovered retirement to be very challenging. I would dress, but have no place to go. I had no audiences to perform for. There was a big void in my life.

But rather quickly, I was presented opportunities at the National AfterSchool Association. And during that time, the term encore career was made popular. I soon discovered more audiences, performance venues and reasons to work hard. Life was good again.

But we were also taught another lesson in music school: Don’t let an encore become another concert! After one, or perhaps two short, delightful encores, there is an appropriate time to stop. To extend beyond that point is to risk leaving audiences privately wishing your performance would end so they could get on with other business, no matter how good you might think you are.

That time has come for me. My encore is finished. I choose to leave before I begin hearing boos instead of “bravo.” There may be smaller gigs that I can play from time to time, but no more long concert programs. There are younger professionals that must be given those opportunities.

It is no wonder so many baby boomers are writing their own second acts or performing encores. The rewards – at least in terms of personal satisfaction – can be tremendous. We are retiring and finding ourselves in good health with a desire to do more, and give back. We are fortunate to find jobs that involve personal meaning, provide continued income and have potential for social impact. But we can’t let an encore career become another career!

What we can do is mentor, consult and teach. In those ways, we can maintain our performance skills and realize continued value from our experience. But we also have to get out of the way and allow those who are younger to enjoy the limelight of the stage.

Paul Young plans to end his tenure at the National AfterSchool Association in April at age 62. He will continue to work – teaching music history and theory at a local college, and giving private music lessons to children. He also plans to continue to mentor principals and write books about after-school professionals. He says the after-school field is ripe for boomers who want encores.

Young says people in encore careers should step aside after a while to make way for the younger generation. What do you think? Let us know at info@encore.org.