Some teachers go above and beyond and treat their students as if they were their own children. This is the case of Mike Law, a teacher from Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, United Kingdom, who won several million euros in the lottery and who, instead of retiring, decided to continue teaching a few more years to help his students graduate.
As reported by local Bristol Post, Mike, 52, was a secondary school art and photography teacher (GCSE in Wales, England and Northern Ireland). In October 2021, he won £2 million in the British National Lottery. Many other colleagues would have taken the opportunity to retire, but Mike waited two years to do so.
“How many people have wanted to change careers, but found themselves stuck and unable to take a leap of faith,” Mike explained in his interview with the Bristol Post. The former teacher says that for him, “winning the national lottery isn’t about buying fast cars and speedboats, it’s about seizing opportunities and making memories“, and he admits he feels “very lucky” to have been able to devote so much time to his teaching profession – more than 20 years.
He helped his students graduate
Mike was candid, explaining that the past few years hadn’t been easy and that, “having lost loved ones just before I won the lottery, including my mother, I realized that life is very short and that I had had an unexpected chance.” But Mike didn’t take the decision lightly and chose to continue working as a teacher for two more years to help his students graduate from high school. In 2023, these students took their exams to graduate, and this dedicated teacher took the opportunity to retire permanently last summer.
Mike is a passionate teacher, who also wants to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer.
A retired teacher for 52 years, Mike Law will devote all his time to realizing his dream: writing historical adventure novels. As he says himself, although he was not “a great student” at the time, Mike loves the Roman Empire and history in general, and his novels will take place within the framework of historical events.”
Andrea, his wife of 45 years, knowing her husband’s passion for writing, supported Mike in this career change. His first novel, set in Roman Britain, is already being written. “It is based on a group of Legionnaires and their adventures in and around Wroxeter, Shropshire. It’s a historical adventure novel with a dark touch,” he explains enthusiastically. Mike says he will strive to be “historically accurate,” as any good teacher should be.
His life will continue as before
Although they have a few million more in their bank account, Mike and his wife don’t want to spend a lot. They paid off their mortgage and took the trip to Lapland they always dreamed of. But they want to “hang in there,” take care of their family and pursue Mike’s dream of becoming a writer.
I was an intern at the editorial office. When I saw their ad for a freelancer, I decided to come back. I’m a fan of series and movies, I spend my weekends at the cinema and my nights in front of Netflix