The Kildonan Experience from 1994-1997 gave me the opportunity to meet so many absolutely legitimately bona-fide “characters” and have myriad bizarre, essential, amazing, indelible, and priceless experiences. Naturally my dreams of teaching high school history and becoming a varsity soccer coach while finding the woman of my dreams and making enough money to live comfortably were slightly dashed as I cashed my paltry paychecks and found the value of .99 A+ Mini Mart hot dogs on a Friday night as entertainment. Of course, the $2.99 six-pack of Genny Light was a bonus that my soon to be life long partner in crime and I could split was certainly part of the entertainment equation. I mean, Amenia, NY only has one traffic light so we had to be adaptive.
The adaptability to entertain ourselves was not the only arena we would have to apply our resourcefulness. At a private boarding school for dyslexic students, we were called upon to be highly skilled at making something out of nothing. Whether we were teaching 4th grade history, high school seniors, or tutoring middle schoolers to read and write, we needed to develop a massive tool box of strategies to reach our students. And then we had to use those tools as dorm parents, coaches, custodians, clerks, bus drivers, athletic directors, department heads, counselors, and field trip advisors. All the while living our twenty-something lives in a fishbowl where every misdeed, hiccup, hookup,or car crash was the fodder for nightly “staff meetings”. Believe it or not, I found out that A) I was going to be a skilled teacher able to find ways to engage and motivate struggling learners and B) I could survive on my own and underwear doesn’t necessarily need to be washed every day. I could use newspapers as blinds in my bedroom to save money and scoop scattered receipts from airport runs to pick up students to redeem for those much needed Genny Light Nights.
In all seriousness, I found friendships, survival skills, and incredible resourcefulness to reach students and live live fully. Someone should find Mr. Edgerton or the Gray Wolf and discuss how we managed to sneak away for basketball games, golf on a home-made course, and change the lives of teenagers. Never mind the basketball trip excursion to Montreal with my childhood buddy and student-athletes barely 2 or 3 years younger than we were. Ah, but the point is- we were able to adapt, create, and be resourceful. That is worth a million dollars. Of course it would take a million years to earn a million dollars on the salary we had, so sooner or later I would need to find my way to the trough of public education to realize my dreams or at least climb out of the incredible debt. But that’s another story for another day…
It’s good to reflect on who we are, because we are often more than just an “Assistant Principal” or “Dorm Parent”. We develop core values and skills that define who we are beyond what we do. And that is what I was trying to say before I fell of the edge of reality and landed back in the glory days of my life in the Hudson Valley. But I appreciate all of you who have connected with me at some point in this journey so that I can actually see who I am, if I can’t actually see what I am doing. If you know what I mean. If you don’t, shoot me an email and I will explain it to you. But write it in bold and big print. Please. And thank you.
Most of all, Thanks for Coming!
2 Replies to “Who Are You?”
As one of the “Characters”, trust me, we knew how much you were all sacrificing and truthfully appreciated it. Thank you! Great read, I will continue to see what else you develop here. “Car crash” – I am pretty sure I recall which incident you are referring to! Wish you the best, Ben.
Yes-it’s entirely possible that while automobiles and others might be declared totaled on occasion, what’s important is that we maintain our connections, hold onto core values, and keep rowing the boat! Great to hear from you BC! Never will I forget the lessons you taught us!