WASHINGTON (AP) — Jill Biden is closing the book on her teaching career at a community college in Virginia.
The first lady, who has taught in classrooms for four decades, announced Monday that she had taught her last ever class at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria. The surprise announcement came during a virtual thank you event where teachers from across the country tuned in.
“Being your first lady has been the honor of my life. But being your colleague has been the work of my life,” she said. “Last Thursday I taught my last class of the semester and my last class ever at Northern Virginia Community College.”
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“I will always love this profession, which is why I continued to teach full-time while I was your first lady,” said Jill Biden, who has taught English and writing at NOVA for 15 years. She was the first woman to continue her professional career outside the White House while serving as first lady of the United States.
The announcement comes as she and President Joe Biden prepare to leave the White House in just over five weeks after the Democrat dropped his bid for reelection after performing poorly in a debate against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump this summer.
Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris succeeded Biden but lost the presidential race to Trump, who will be inaugurated for a second term on January 20.
Jill Biden began teaching English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College in 2009 after Barack Obama and Joe Biden were elected president and vice president. She continued to teach there after he left office in 2017, riding the train home from their home in Delaware.
She often said, “Teaching isn’t what I do, it’s who I am.”
