Diaries of a 1st Year Principal: Finding Your Why
August 2022
In May 2021, I started a new draft of my Instructional Coach blog (Get Your PL in Gear) about finding your why. Coaching is a tough job, and I love coaching teachers. It was also the job I never knew I wanted. At that time, I wrote: “For me, this was not a job I sought out, but rather one that found me.”
That blog post draft sat open on my computer as a pinned tab for exactly one year. My entire world shifted at that moment as I made the decision to apply for and accept an open assistant principal job at my school. During that first year as an assistant principal, once in a while throughout the school year, I would look at that blog draft with just a few sentences written, and it haunted my thoughts.
I am a learner. I believe in the power of stretching yourself and growing and being deeply rooted in your “why.” My favorite quote that I use in the signature of my emails is, “A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.” This past year has been both the hardest thing I have ever done, and also the most amazing.
I am just beginning my 2nd year as an associate principal at a 6A high school. After the first week of my 1st year, I wasn't sure I would make it. I applied for this job because I really felt it was time. After completing my Educational Leadership coursework and degree, I held off on making the transition into an actual school administrator position. At the end of the 2020-2021 school year, it felt right. The reasons I had for not pursuing an admin position were not relevant anymore. This was the right position at the right time. I went into this year knowing it was going to be challenging, and it was an opportunity to grow and stretch. Week one was extremely difficult, and I quickly wondered if I had made the right decision. Things slowly got better and easier as I gained my footing. By January, I was questioning my life choices once again. I have never NOT wanted to go back to school. And on my first day back in January, I was close to tears almost the entire day. I did not feel ready to come back, and wondered again if this was the right decision.
However, I believe just as much in closed doors, as I do in open doors, and the path to this job has been clear. So I knew I was in the right place, even though it was hard…and I look back on the full year, and I know…this is definitely where I need to be. As a team, our Academy has successfully built and continues to refine the culture of the Arts & Comm Academy at GCHS, and that is a big thing.
What I have learned so far is that this job is THE single hardest thing I've ever done. Here are a few lessons that stick with me:
TIME is a commodity. No one can prepare you for the time demand.
Relationships matter. Above all else, making sure your teachers and students know you care about them, helps them go with you on the journey and do the hard things.
Nothing is normal. It truly helped me at one point that more experienced principals told me every day that they also struggle with how to navigate situations.
Decision Fatigue is a real thing.
This job takes stamina. I had no idea. And it took a few weeks to build up that stamina. I was more tired in the fall semester than I have ever been tired before – ever.
“Attitude reflects leadership.”
I think there is so much more that I can add…the stories I have from this year…the confidence I have worked to build both in myself and others around me. At some point along the year, I knew my blog needed to shift, but the message would not. So it sat there haunting me for the year as I figured that out. The same is still true: “For me, this was not a job I sought out, but rather one that found me.”
“Moral imperative is about meaningfulness in life and work. It consists of a strong internal commitment to accomplish something of significant value.”
—Michael Fullan
As I begin year 2, I still find myself in constant reflection of everything that was year 1. Through it all, my mantra has been Grit & Grace. My very best friend and true thought-partner sent an office warming gift to me before school started that first year and it had that simple, but powerful, phrase on it. I did not know how applicable that would become, and how important. So, how have I grown as a leader this year? I think Grit & Grace says it all.
- Ginny