For many Canadians, September represents a time of renewal and change.Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
When September rolls around, it feels like the unofficial start to the new year with the kids back in the classroom and parents back to work.
And for some, that beginning-of-the-school-year feeling sticks around no matter your age. September just feels like that perfect time to begin anew rather than waiting until Jan. 1.
We asked Globe readers what their plans are for this year’s September renewal, now that the summer fun has wrapped. Here’s what they had to say. You can share yours in the comments below.
One step stronger
This September, I plan to start something that I have never done in my life: training for a marathon. I had an experience recently that taught me how life is short and precious. Therefore, I am focusing on healthy activities. Plus, I have never done one so it will be a wonderful challenge!
I will also commit to keeping up with my writing and hot yoga classes – things that inspire me, keep me grounded and help me heal past wounds.
Sharon Lie, 41, Brossard, Que.
The new blueprint
Allyson Tojcic and her spouse will complete a delayed condo renovation this fall.John Tojcic/Supplied
This coming fall, my husband and I will begin and finish the full renovation of our condo. We had intended to begin in April, but the renovation’s unruly nature put it off until September.
The timing seems natural. Who does not have feelings about September? Who does not anticipate September with the same sense of frank possibility? After all, we all once were kids going into Grade 6 and those kids still live on in us. The condo reno just happens to be in the place of those new, tight shoes, the blank notebooks and pens that invited our reinventions.
Its cooler days, its orange moons – September was always the lady who stretched out her hand and asked us to dance, the place where we went to start anew or at least imagine we could (unlike January with its hangovers and repressive expectations).
Pursuing purpose can lead you astray from happiness, doctor shares in new book
My husband and I are boomers who met in our fifties, happy in our respective lives but not yet through with love. Seven years of long distance culminated in us getting married in 2018, when I also retired and moved into his condo that was built in 1988.
Our home together in the past seven years has been a mishmash of furniture and belongings that we threw together under one roof, transforming his bachelor pad that held hockey jerseys from the 80s, trophies and clothes vastly out of style. But we loved the bones of this place. You can hardly find a new-build like this nowadays.
So bring on the fancy new countertop and backsplash, the new bathrooms and floors, the new everything, and let September be the apt and only sensible backdrop to this chrysalis-like renewal, the birth of a home we built together that combines our respective styles.
Allyson Tojcic, 69, Richmond Hill, Ont.
Back to school, for real
After accepting a retirement package in late 2024, I wasn’t ready to stop and focused on getting another position in communications. However, being on the far side of 60, the opportunities were slim.
A couple of months later, I was in hospital for a test and got to chatting with the unit clerk. Decades ago I trained to be a respiratory therapist before heading in a different direction, so not a total stretch. I looked into the job outlook (hot for the next three years), conditions (casual, no nights or weekends) and training – four months, plus a month practicum. Bingo.
Hospital unit clerks deal with patients, the nurses, doctors and technicians who treat the patients and the support staff who keep things running. I love that – being in the thick of things, knowing what’s going on, who’s who, helping people.
On September 2, after 30 years in journalism, marketing and communications, I start the unit clerk course at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. I will learn about medical office procedures, healthcare system fundamentals, billing and bookkeeping, keeping patient records. And I expect to wind up in a hospital, helping coordinate work flows and very diverse interests.
Having a supportive spouse (who went back to school at 50 to follow his passion, cooking) and no dependents means being able to fully focus on this new venture.
The best part? Choosing my own schedule as a casual worker – because I’ve also discovered being retired is kind of great, specially during the summer.
Dina O’Meara, 67, Calgary, Alta.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.