Forging Her Own Path

Forging Her Own Path

Funny how a simple text message could change the course of one’s life. That was the case for Eileen. After receiving a text from her former teacher saying there was a position open at her former elementary school, Eileen’s life as she knew it came to a halt once again. Almost 4 months after her father passed away, Eileen had a chance to come home. As she began thinking about leaving Oklahoma, she was sad. Norman had become her home. It was her community and she was going to miss her friends. She was going to miss her neighbors, driving by “the palace” where OU dominated every Saturday. She was going to miss eating lunch on Campus Corner and seeing the “who’s who” of Oklahoma City and Norman when she worked the football games. But she also reflected back on the time in her hometown of San Antonio, when she visited in August for a reunion and she couldn’t help but smile. “I’’ll get to give back to a place that gave so much to me” she said to herself. This brought a smile to her face and in that moment, she knew all would be okay.  

Prior to accepting her new position, that same former teacher and someone who would soon be a co-worker, had lightly warned about their boss. “She makes me work hard and demands a lot. But she can be difficult and has gotten to some people. Just be careful.” Eileen had experience working with people from “the north” and appreciated how they tend to be blunt and don’t dance around things. Despite the friendly advice, Eileen was excited about the new opportunity. Coming home meant new challenges, new chapter and being near family.  

Her first day was met with a revolving door of introductions from colleagues. There were never dull moments which she didn’t mind at all. As Eileen began to settle in her new role, there were often references by her boss, Maggie, to the person who she replaced. At first, Eileen brushed off these comments. As time went on, however, these comments started to grate on her. She wanted to scream, “I’m not Lisa!” She managed to stay cool and just smiled as she sat there in staff meetings. Becoming more comfortable in the role, thankfully months went by and the references lessened. Eileen knew she was not going to do things as Lisa did and that was perfectly okay. She needed to forge her own path, figure out what worked for her. This was her moment, her area now and she was her own person. Now she just had to show Maggie that there was no mistake in hiring her.  

Maggie was known to often speak without thinking. Eileen learned this quickly, especially after numerous co-workers and parents reiterated this point. When the time came around each week to work on the school’s weekly newsletter, Eileen had her work cut out for her. While Maggie frequently sent in her own “Note from the Principal” verbiage, Eileen found ways to tweak the message to come across better, more polished. When she first started, Maggie jokingly told her, “Your job is to make me look and sound good.” Sometimes Maggie would come in like a hurricane and drop off her note, usually handwritten which made the words and intended message hard to read Once she left, Eileen ducked into her colleague’s office and held up the sheet of paper. Her co-worker, Kelly, just looked up and smiled, saying “Yea, good luck with that. Let me know if you need me.” Eileen just laughed and headed back to her laptop. By this time, parents were used to the Maggie talked, often leaving them confused. Part of Eileen’s role required her to be the PTC Liaison, which was a great way for her to begin getting to know parents. The PTC President at the time, also from the north, and Eileen quickly forged a bond. Michelle soon became Eileen’s “go to” to review Notes Home, the school’s weekly newsletter. This way there was not only another set of eyes to look over before sending, but also a parent perspective, one Eileen respected. As much as Eileen prided herself on being a perfectionist, inevitably, Michelle would catch an error. Whether it was a date or a phrase that didn’t come across right, Eileen’s phone would ding with a text from Michelle with correction. There were many moments where Eileen questioned how she was doing her job. Michelle was often her sounding board and the friend to remind her in such a sweet and caring way. “You’re not Lisa, you have to develop your own way of doing things. You and Maggie will figure out what works for you two.” Eileen sincerely appreciated that reassurance. On the days Maggie had late meetings or was out of the office, Eileen breathed sigh of relief simply saying, “I got this.” Parents noticed and there even moments Maggie would joke the next say by nudging her and saying “Wow, I sounded good in Notes Home.” Eileen just laughed and said, with a bit of sarcasm, “Well I aim to please.”  

Weeks, then months went by and Eileen felt she was indeed forging her own path and putting her mark not only in her role, but in her former elementary school. This made her feel good, proud. Parents began reaching out to her and Eileen started speaking up more in meetings, confident she could help improve things for the better. Her opinion and experience was respected and appreciated by most, except from the one with the most influence: her boss.  

Without defying her, Eileen forged onward. Day after day, Eileen worked to stand out and be recognized by her boss for her talents. Every time she heard footsteps coming toward her office, she inwardly cringed, wondering what she did wrong now. Eileen was not one to need public praise. However, every now and then hearing a genuine “you’re doing a good job” would have been nice to hear. The conversations she had with her boss were rarely ones that didn’t leave Eileen second-guessing herself even when she was not at fault. She constantly felt her voice didn’t matter. While her opinion was respected and sought out by other colleagues, her boss rarely took her to heart. This hurt Eileen and boggled her mind as to how to change the situation. She had experience, she was not presenting ideas in a threatening way but in ways to help the organization. Yet, she was often struck down and made to feel belittled, insignificant and irrelevant.  

Her boss never missed an opportunity to make the point known she didn’t like that Eileen got along well with parents and that they went to her when there were issues. When situations would come up where Maggie learned that Eileen was already aware of something or more involved than her, Maggie let her irritation be known in ways that made Eileen feel so small.  

At the point Eileen would have entered her 6th year at the school, Maggie had enough. Even though she had just announced she was not returning to the school and had already handed the reins to the current Assistant Principal, she was the one to do Eileen’s annual evaluation. For reasons that shocked parents, Eileen’s contract was not renewed, Throughout the weeks between the day where her world was turned upside down and her last day on campus, Eileen stayed on the high road. Parents reached out with notes of appreciation which moved Eileen to tears. Her best friend told her she’d get through this, that something better was on the horizon, even if she could’t see it now. Eileen knew her best friend was right, but there were nights the anger took over and the tears just flowed. She knew the blood, sweat and tears she put into the school didn’t go unnoticed. A day before her last on campus, she was asked to fill in for the PTC President and announce the scholarship winners at the 8th grade graduation. As she got up to the podium to face an audience full of colleagues, parents and students, she owned the moment. She used humor to insert her own spin on the script which made the audience laugh, something that warmed Eileen’s heart. As the graduation ceremony ended, she made her way to the back where she was greeted by her best friend’s family, who kissed her cheek and said, “Good job up there.”  

The next day, Eileen was presented with her 5 year pin by her boss, the same one who delivered the news about her contract only weeks before this moment.  Eileen took that opportunity to say thank you to her colleagues for the memories but quickly went back to her seat so as to not show how hard that truly was for her. She was not going to have Maggie see her weak. Eileen was determined to leave on a high note.  

Hours later, she had given her keys and badge to the Administrative Assistant who looked as uncomfortable to receive them as Eileen was to hand them over. Another colleague came into her office shortly after that to ask what time she was leaving for the day. Eileen simply looked at her, dumfounded, holding back a snicker, and replied with a curt “5:00.” “Wow, talk about feeling irrelevant and tossed aside,” she thought to herself. As Eileen walked out the door for the last time, the words her best friend told her many times circled in her head, “You did nothing wrong.” Throughout the past 5 years, Eileen met parents who would become some of her closest friends and grew immensely as a person. She left her mark and had no regrets.  Eileen smiled and walked to her car ready to start the next chapter.