Earth and Sky Begin to Cool
August 28 — Sept 1, Hunenberg, Switzerland
Seasonal Memoir Entry #23
The other day, on my postcard perfect walk home (as I sweated through my work clothes), my wife asked over a WhatsApp call how I’d rate this quasi-sabbatical year-in-Switzerland. I told her 8/10 for the school experience (due to being new, and the challenges of being an interim) and 5/10 for the bachelor aspect of it.
While I have more than enough to keep my busy and engaged, as well as ample quiet, self-directed time, and the recreation is top-notch, it’s simply more fun to share life with somebody you love. I also miss our son badly, and wish I could better support him in his senior year.
I have no regrets for the year, don’t get me wrong, but it’s definitely harder than I thought it would be. I suppose that means there is opportunity for growth in this experience, if I make the time and effort to find it. You don’t grow when things are easy. It’s also a year to restore and repair from my experience in Dubai.
As the settling-in continues, I feel like I’m entering a groove at school. The kids have been back for two weeks and are settling in themselves. It all makes a bit more sense, and I can now put into focus how I can make an impact in just one year. Specifically:
- Provide for the needs of the students, first and foremost
- Establish a smooth transition for the incoming HS Principal
- Strengthen the high school’s professional culture and climate, systems and structures
- Advance the strategic initiatives of the division and of ISZL
- Foster connection and belonging in the community
- Be happy, healthy, and successful
It’s the fifth objective that I believe will provide a tremendous growth opportunity for me. I normally haven’t devoted a ton of attention to bringing people together, or joining in on the social opportunities abound in the school setting, perhaps because I don’t generally seek this out myself (I am an introvert, after all). I’ve let others at the school take this responsibility on. But coming out of Covid (are we “coming out”?), connection and belonging are really important, and having teachers in a good place emotionally directly impacts the student experience (e.g. kids respond to a teacher’s passion about their craft of teaching).
The high school staff at ISZL had a reputation of being close, so they’ve gravitated to the events we have (and they’ve created many themselves through the Sounds of the Underground WhatsApp group). And I have a good “lab” to layer well-being strategies, such as establishing an email moratorium (8pm-7am), or encouraging passion projects (Google’s 20%). I look forward to seeing what sticks in the staff culture, and taking these strategies to Mumbai.
