Biography of school principal - Essay Example

Biography There are so many people who come and go from your life and you just hardly ever realize their presence. But there are many who come to your life and when they go they mark deep impressions on your mind which can never be removed. For me this person was Mr. X, my school principal. I am very glad that today I am writing about him. Interviewing him was a great experience and a privilege for me. I was ninth grade when he joined my school and since then I have been in contact with him. BACKGROUND Mr. X joined the school management some five years ago. Apparently he was a very strict person with serious looks. He was a retired army officer who served the nation for more than 40 years. He was at the post of Major when he was retired and before his retirement he had planned about his future career and that was to join some educational institution. He was Masters in Business Administration and therefore he was fit for the job requirements of a principal. When I first saw him in my school days I found him to be very sturdy, stringent, yet elegant and off course very disciplined. Despite of his complete soldier looks and attitude he possessed a very attractive and decent personality. But now when I met him for the sake of interview I found him very different from what he was previously probably the Erikson’s development theory was working its way [ARL12]. EARLY LIFE He was born in a family who was closely affiliated with the services in army, navy and air force. His father was also an army general. He had five siblings and he was the third child of his parents. He was completely looked after by his mother in his infancy and childhood since his father was usually on his duty. According to the Erickson’s developmental stages he was at the first stage when he started developing mistrust about his father as he was not available to give him care and affection that an infant requires. In his early childhood when he was around 2.5 years old his toilet training was started. His parents used to have a very clean and tidy personality and so the same genes were transferred to him. Initially he used to feel very happy to find himself neat and clean even after going to the washroom. A sense of confidence and independence was developing in him. According to him his mother never scolded him for not showing up the results of toilet training although she used to be very strict just enough to tell him about his mistake. Her attitude actually induced a feeling of confidence in him which remained throughout his life. Before going to school his most favorite activity was to explore his own house. He was always very curious about his father’s study room as he had never been there. He used to be very interested in glass plates as he was always served in the plastic ones. He was exceptionally good in his studies at school which developed competence and increased his confidence as well. While maintaining good performance in studies he was also a very good sportsman which made him a significant and prominent student of the school and therefore he had a large circle of friends. ADULTHOOD Discussing the days of adulthood he told me about his first love affair with his batch mate. At the age of 19 it was his first experience of falling in love and the longest relationship that he had before marriage. This relationship ended in a complete breakup because of some misunderstanding. This had a very negative impact on his social life. Since it was his first experience and that too ended in failure resulted in his isolation. For a long time he kept himself secluded and out-of-the way. MARRIAGE AND CAREER Later after almost 4 years he had another relationship and this time he married this girl soon after joining the army. He had two children from his marriage. As a father he realized his responsibilities towards his children and gave them his complete attention which his father failed to give. He entered his professional life with the personality traits of mistrust which was build because of his father and the confidence given by his mother. Both of these proved to be very beneficial for his career development since a soldier is never expected to trust everyone and at the same time he has to be confident as well. While working as an army officer he worked hard to gain a degree in Business Administration as he had already decided to join some educational institution after his retirement. POST RETIREMENT Turing in to a school principal from a former army officer proved to be very challenging for him because he was accustomed to maintain rude and strict attitude but within the first year of his job as a principal he realized that this attitude cannot work here rather it will result in hatred from students which he never wanted. So he strived hard to change his years old way of acting and dealing with others. His exceptionally good behavior is evident from the respect that he receives from his students. When I first met him in my school days he was a completely different person to what he turned in after 5 years. He was probably 70 years old now and was full of achievements, accomplishments, wisdom and integrity. Here I am adding up his brief answers to my questions during the interview session I had with him in his office. I was allowed duration of 30 minutes to conduct the interview. Talking about his parents and family background he said, “I belong to an upper middle class family being my father a retired general and my mother a lecturer at the university. I am third among the five children. Many of my uncles and close family friends are from the army, navy and air force background in addition to me and my two brothers”. When I asked him about his childhood he was sad to discuss his father but when it came to his mother then he looked pretty glad and gave the credit of his successful life to his mother. He said, “I had a very good and satisfied childhood experience except for one thing that I could never enjoy my father’s attention since he was an Army General and was always out of house. His lack of attention actually leaded me towards mistrust. On the other hand my mother was a very pleasing woman who supported and encouraged me throughout.” Talking about the school age and adulthood he mentioned, “My school age was full of excitement and achievements. Being the top student of the school I enjoyed everyone’s’ attention and goodwill. Everything that I remember from my adulthood is very pleasant except for my very first love affair which ended in despair and isolation. Later I found another very good woman whom I married and have two children.” Discussing the achievements and challenges of life he said, “I was blessed with success at every stage of my career and the same went for me as a principal. It was definitely a challenging task for me to adjust in this completely new environment but when I changed my attitude things automatically settled in favor of me”. Work Cited ARL12: , (ARLENE F. HARDER, 2012), Read More