As a new teacher, it is important not to take on too much. It is important to do one thing at least very well. I’ve always believed it’s better to do one thing well than to do several things with mediocrity. I decided a few weeks ago that I would do it. Being a new teacher, a white girl, using my white voice (as others have advised me to do), on reserve, I would do one thing well, at least. There must be one thing. I can skate, and I can teach skating. So I have to start a skating club. The day I sent out permission forms, I had a dream that night. I dreamt that I sent out the forms, and I had eight forms exactly returned to me. In my dream I pictured the forms – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, on my desk – stacking up one after the other. I thought, “I’ll be lucky to get that many.” I woke up, and left it at that.
That day, at the end of the day, I counted the number of permission forms on my desk. There were eight. Exactly eight. Strange, how dreams tell you the truth. The next day, I dreamed that I would be the one to begin a yearbook at the school which had no official yearbook. Then, I decided that was a dream for another day. I had to do the skating first. By the end of the week, I had 20 permission forms for skating club.
On the day of skating club, I received another 20 forms. I had others show up at the ice. Parents, grandparents, elders, brothers, sisters, other family members. Suddenly, it wasn’t just 8 forms stacked on my desk. It was 50. It was 25% of the school. Suddenly those skaters needed helmets and skates. Suddenly I needed more people.
It is pointless to do several things with mediocrity. Doing one thing well can make all the difference.
