Jill Biden says she is quitting her job as a teacher

It can be difficult to leave a job you genuinely enjoy, but everyone must ultimately determine when it’s time to retire. That moment has arrived for First Lady Jill Biden.

Despite having taught for forty years, Biden is formally ending her teaching career. After giving her final class at Northern Virginia Community College, she made this news last week. Yahoo! says that she made the revelation at a virtual event that was watched by educators nationwide.

It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your first lady. However, working with you has been my life’s work. “I taught my last class of the semester and my last class ever at Northern Virginia Community College last Thursday,” she added.

“I will always love this profession, which is why I continued to teach full time while serving as your first lady,” the First Lady concluded.

You’re right if you think it’s strange that a First Lady would work anywhere else than the White House. During her husband’s presidency, Biden was the first and only First Lady to work outside the home. After her husband was elected president, Biden, who has been a teacher at Northern Virginia Community College for 15 years, had the option to stay on the job. Biden is putting the White House and teaching behind her now that they will be departing in the upcoming weeks.

In a statement, Anne Kress, president of Northern Virginia Community College, praised Biden. The First Lady is “an exceptional faculty member,” Kress said. “She leaves a lasting legacy in the lives of the students she taught, mentored, and inspired over the years as she retires after an exemplary career,” she continued. The letter goes on to say, “We know that her advocacy will continue. She has been a remarkable, unequaled champion for America’s community colleges.”

Biden started working as a high school English teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1976. When her husband, Joe Biden, became vice president alongside President Barack Obama in 2009, she started teaching English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College after holding a number of other teaching posts. While her husband served as vice president, the couple relocated from Delaware to Washington, D.C., but she continued to teach at Northern Virginia Community College, traveling from Delaware by train.