What Lies Within

By Roger Hove
President, International Schools Services, Inc.

As educators frequently do during the summer months, I was recently reflecting on the past school year and looking ahead to the coming year. This past year, in particular, caught us frequently looking back in shock at what had happened and anxiously looking forward wondering what was about to happen.

About this time a year ago we were just coming off several months of oil prices in excess of $100 /bbl. What had seemed to be an unstoppable housing bubble was only slightly noticeably starting to deflate. While stock prices (and in parallel retirement accounts) had been declining for several months, they still seemed reasonable even as we were beginning to feel nervous. We still had faith in big name financial institutions, in the economy and in our livelihood in general.

Very few envisioned how the year ahead would unfold. No doubt, as the year revealed itself, most of us wondered if we would see dramatic declines in enrollment within our schools. We wondered if we would be able to maintain the savings we had acquired for our children’s education or for retirement. We even began to justifiably wonder if our jobs would still exist by the end of the year. We kept looking back to see what had happened and we kept looking forward wondering what would happen.

Well, we did survive. No doubt all of us have been impacted to some extent. No doubt it has been rough for some of us in ways we had hoped we would never experience. In spite of the dramatic events of the year, we did survive, and we are about to begin another school year. Perhaps this past year has even helped to restore a healthier balance and perspective in our lives and organizations.

During this reflection process the following quotation by Ralph Waldo Emerson, which I have come to appreciate over the years, came to mind:

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

I do believe we are well served to remember this quotation. Whether we view this from the perspective of an individual, school, organization or any entity of individuals, all that we can do to strengthen “what lies within” will help us to best manage anything that lies before or after.

Have a great year!!

Roger Hove

President