educators_making_adifference

Happy New Month, Educators! 🎉

July is here — and I want to start it by telling you something that happened to me last month that I have not been able to stop thinking about.

I cannot swim.

I mean that literally. I have never learned. And yet — somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, during the International School Leaders Retreat and Conference in Mauritius — I went snorkelling for the very first time in my life. 🌊

Let me tell you how it happened.

We were on a boat cruise on the Indian Ocean and the activities included snorkelling and ocean swimming. Before the trip, I had googled — because that is what we do 😄 — and found out that you do not actually have to know how to swim to snorkel. So I came prepared. I had bought a swimming suit, a swimming cap, and snorkelling equipment ahead of time. I told the crew I could not swim. They did not hesitate. They said I would wear a life jacket and they would stay close.

And they stayed true to their word.

So there I was — a non-swimmer — in the middle of the Indian Ocean, experiencing snorkelling and ocean swimming for the very first time. Fully present. Fully alive. Completely amazed at what was right beneath the surface that I almost missed because of what I thought I could not do.

But here is the part that moved me most.

When I came out of the ocean, three other school leaders — who also had no swimming experience — decided to go in and try.

Three people who had been watching from the boat. Three people who had their own reasons to hold back. But who found the courage to try because somebody else was bold enough to go first.

I did not give a speech. I did not convince anyone. I simply went.

Educators — that is our work, isn't it?

We go first. Into the unfamiliar curriculum. Into the difficult conversation. Into the new methodology. Into the uncomfortable growth. Not because we have no fear. But because we understand that someone is always watching — and our willingness to try gives others permission to try too.

You may not know how to swim in every situation July brings your way.

Go in anyway. 🙏🏾

The life jacket is the community around you. The crew is the people God has placed beside you. And beneath the surface of every challenge you have been avoiding is something breathtaking — waiting to be discovered.

Happy New Month. Go first. 🌊✨

Which part of this story speaks to you? Drop it in the comments — I read every single one. 👇🏾