editorial
TRANSCRIPT
DOI: 10.1002/qaj.343
Editorial
As Time Goes By
While I am writing this editorial, current
temperatures make it nearly impossible to do
‘real’ work. Welcome, summer! And now that
you are reading the editorial, fall may have
already entered the scene. It is amazing how
quickly three months pass}this is the period
between the submission date of the articles to
the publisher and the time you hold the Quality
Assurance Journal in your hands. I hope you
have had a wonderful summer and have taken
any opportunity to enjoy life.
The editorial is deliberately titled with a song
from ‘Casablanca’, the famous movie from
1942. No, I did not spend my summer vacation
in Casablanca. However, summer did bring the
opportunity to attend an alumni reunion of my
school (a girl’s school) and the occasion to meet
schoolmates and friends who graduated in the
same year as I did. Admittedly, I have not been
diligent in keeping in touch with many of them
over the 20 years which have since passed.
Reasons (or should I rather say ‘excuses’) are
manifold: studying, professional development,
business travel, moving house and changing
country, new friends, new family, hobbies and
many more.
Nevertheless, the reunion was an exciting
opportunity to share how our lives had
developed since leaving school. The diversity
of the professions pursued and subjects
studied was stunning as was the variety of
countries that my schoolmates now call home.
While some are still based in Germany, others
have moved and are now working in places as
far a field as Denmark, Luxemburg, Portugal,
South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, the UK or the
USA.
For our graduation in 1985, we prepared and
distributed a magazine which included our
photos and, among other information, our
(more or less serious) career aspirations. Com-
paring the plans from then to what we are now
occupied with was exciting and also surprising.
Some schoolmates determinedly realized the
plans which they had set for themselves for
their professional and/or personal life. Others
had followed completely different paths or made
significant changes throughout the last 20 years,
such as starting a second or third professional
training or embarking on studies for other
subjects mid-career. Others found their fulfill-
ment in having family and children and others
have found creative ways to continue their
career while having children. (Just remember, I
attended a girl’s school.) Some of my school-
mates who I believed would dedicate their life to
a career and professional life surprised me,
devoting their life to motherhood and family}
whereas others surprised me because they had
not.
Given the diversity of personal and profes-
sional developments, there was one thing which
I believe we all share}we all seemed content
with what we have achieved.
Now, what do I conclude? Well, three
things for me (and maybe for you) to think
about:
* Plans are a good start, but don’t feel
compelled to stick to them. Live the way
you like.* You decide who and what to be and what to
do, at any time in your life.* You are your own benchmark for your
contentment.
At the end of the alumni reunion, plans
were made to meet again in five years to
celebrate 25 years of graduation. I am already
Copyright r 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Qual Assur J 2005; 9, 177–178.
curious to see what the next five years will
bring. I wonder where and how we will be living
and what will be important to us. Perhaps
some of my schoolmates will be grandmothers
by then. What ever path we follow, I am sure
it will be another exciting event with
many surprises!
Rita Hattemer-Apostel
E-mail: [email protected]
Copyright r 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Qual Assur J 2005; 9, 177–178.
178 Editorial