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W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 D E C E M B E R 1 3 , 2 0 2 1 F O C U S WO R K F O R C E D E V E L O P M E N T every day is a beautiful sunny day with amazing sunsets — I certainly had those days, but if it rained every day that week then the moss would be super-green and vibrant, and the mushrooms would be fruiting. Even on the bad days, there were good things happening." Besides greeting the daily mailboat, his responsibilities included develop- ing and giving educational programs at the island's primary school and treating injured visitors as an emergency medi- cal technician, he says, adding, "I didn't know if I'd be doing a search-and-rescue call or running a chainsaw or running an education program." Glad to be back practicing law, he also now has a greater appreciation for nature in his free time. "Before I would just be hiking, it was just about being outside," he says. "Now I'm looking at things through a different lens because I had that experience." Because of his experience, Bernstein Shur is, in fact, looking at creating a for- mal sabbatical program, says the firm's CEO, Joan Fortin. "It was a win-win," she says. "He got a really great break and got to recharge in a unique way, and we got to retain an excellent lawyer with a bright future." Going back to school When Belgrade resident Jessica Cates resigned from her job in education a little over a year ago to go back to college full-time, it wasn't an easy decision. "I loved working with the little kids, but I also knew that the outcome is far going to outweigh the position I was in before," says Cates, whose responsibilities as a technology inte- gration specialist at a primary school included teaching youngsters about the proper use of tablets. While she had some college credits under her belt — the 37-year- old had attended Southern Maine Community College for two years after high school thinking she would go into pharmacy — she never com- pleted her education as she raised her kids and put her then-husband's mili- tary career first and enjoyed her work in education. Prior to her latest job, she worked as an educational techni- cian in the school district's special education department. Encouraged by her current husband to put herself first and go back to school, Cates enrolled at the University of Maine at Augusta, initially taking early childhood education classes. Bucking the nationwide decline in college enroll- ment, she's pursuing a Bachelor of Applied Science degree with a minor in computer information systems. Cates, one of 4,222 students at UMA this fall and 96 in the public institu- tion's Applied Science program, takes all her classes online. Fast forward to this year, and she's juggling three courses this semester that keep her busy four to five hours a day. She's due to complete her degree next year and looks forward to the new career paths ahead. "I went into it thinking I'm going to learn a whole lot about coding and that I could look into software devel- opment down the road or designing apps," she says. "What I've learned is that I'm really enjoying web design, so we'll see where that leads. ere's such a broad spectrum of jobs out there through this program." Cates has no regrets about going back to school and urges anyone think- ing of doing the same to go for it no matter their age, saying, "If you have the opportunity and the ability to go after something you really want … you've just got to go for it." 'Rewiring yourself in retirement' After close to four decades in pub- lic broadcasting, Mark Vogelzang, 66, retired as CEO of Maine Public in July to spend more time with family — and channel his inner entrepreneur. e family part entails making up for lost time during COVID with visits to see grandchildren, friends and sights all over the country via an Airstream camper and as far afield as France, and a new lady friend in Las Vegas. On the business front, he's started a consultancy to advise nonprofit leaders on fundraising while offering himself as an interim station manager for public television and radio stations in man- agement transitions and in need of expe- rienced help. F U N FAC T : The percentage of retired adults age 55 and older rose from 48.1% in the third quarter of 2019 to 50.3% in the third quarter of 2021, according to the Pew Research Center. Drawing on his own fundraising experience, his goal is to help non- profit leaders "learn and develop the muscles to meet donors in person," he explains. He finds those skills espe- cially lacking at public broadcasters, where leaders have come up through the ranks from programming, sales and other departments but often without fundraising experience. "Being able to talk to donors and explain the organization's mission and goals, and the ambitions and dreams and hopes for institutions is sometimes hard to articulate," he says. Describing his new life chapter as "reinventing and rewiring yourself in retirement," Vogelzang adds: "is whole notion of taking some risk in life and stepping out of our comfort zone, it's one of the things that COVID has made us do." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r, c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z a n d @ r s c o r d e s P H O T O S / C O U R T E S Y O F M A R K VO G E L Z A N G This whole notion of taking some risk in life and stepping out of our comfort zone, it's one of the things that COVID has made us do. — Mark Vogelzang Former Maine Public CEO P H O T O / C O U R T E S Y O F J E S S I C A C AT E S Jessica Cates resigned from a job in education to further her own education, at the University of Maine at Augusta. Since Mark Vogelzang left his post as CEO of Maine Public last July, his focus has been on family and starting a new company.