We’re in graduation season, so around the East Bay Area, students from preschool all the way up to grad school are completing one chapter in their lives and looking to the next. But it’s not only the students who are moving on. On May 29, beloved principal Linda Anderson celebrated her retirement after 32 years with the Fremont Unified School District.
Students, teachers and Anderson’s own kids and grandkids gathered on the lawn at Oliveira Elementary School. Anderson gave a heartfelt speech to her students, titled “Moving Forward,” emphasizing their agency and the power of choice.
“Life is a journey,” Anderson said, “and each year, you are moving forward to a new chapter. It’s your story to write—no one else’s. And one of the most powerful tools you have in writing that story is your ability to choose…What will carry you forward is your character, your resilience, your courage, and your kindness.”
‘What will carry you forward is your character, your resilience, your courage, and your kindness’
Linda Anderson
Following the speech, there was a dove release, where a handful of birds soared into the air and circled the school before winging off to a destination unknown. A determined seagull also decided it wanted some attention.
My husband works in education, so for me it’s inspiring to see teachers valued as guides and mentors, not looked on as the enemy by students and parents alike, perversely withholding the Magic Letter Grade that will grant a floundering student their deserved symbol of validation.
School can be about learning and growing, or it can be a tedious set of boxes to check before you’re allowed to move to the next set of boxes, according to the correct timeline for your age group.
When we leave school, graduations don’t happen on a predetermined schedule. This frees us from (some of) the pressure to compare our life milestones to those of the people around us.
However, for some, freedom can also be a terrible burden. To know where you really want to go, you have to look inside and see who you really are. That’s scary—if you haven’t developed Anderson’s virtues of character, resilience, courage and kindness.
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone (or something) was always in your pocket to give you an easy answer—nevermind what answer—and a pat on the head? Many would rather sleepwalk through life, terrified of making the smallest choice, holding the most insignificant opinion, being vulnerable with others in the most trivial matters.
Educators like Anderson offer a different path.
The real work confronts us after graduation. But if we’re smart, we start much sooner.
