Frank
I am a vice principal of an elementary school in Florida. I have a doctoral degree and my goal has been to be a principal in the future. My beef is with the educational system. It seems to me that there is an expectation that all of us as administrators have to be the same—kind of rigid, never smile, never relaxed. Administrators are an unhappy bunch. I am in the process of forgiving the people in the district office because I have not been promoted yet. This is not sour grapes. I have had to fill in for our principal at times and I get high marks from the teachers. I treat each one as a human being and I do the same for the students. I am forgiving out of a sense of frustration. I am trying to see the people in the district office as people (sure, imperfect people), worthy of my time and my respect. I have to admit that it is a struggle. I have to work at this every day. I can’t say that I have completed the task. My forgiveness is a work in progress. I want to do this so that my frustration eases and so that I can communicate with the district office personnel in a humane and civil way. I also think that the students in my school will benefit as I continue to struggle after forgiveness because I will not let any anger spill over to them. This is important to me. The students deserve my best.
