An Anecdote for Dr. Willis

I often use stories as metaphors in my writings. With the announcement this week that Dr. Willis would be taking on the role of principal at Greene County Intermediate School, I thought back to the many stories that I had about her over the years. I hired Uvonda Willis 13 years ago as an English teacher in Pitt County. At the time, the graduation project was still a state requirement and I gave her all of the Seniors that had not been successful in Engish 4 or on the project specifically. She worked with some tough kids and had a daunting task, but she did a great job reaching them. She could often be found teaching without shoes on and used her planning periods to run around and find mentors and other resources to support her kids. After I came to Greene County, she had been hired on as an assistant principal in that school. When I had an opportunity to hire an assistant principal here, she was the only person I really wanted to interview. I called her and paced around in my yard as I tried to sell her on my vision of what the school could be and how she could help us get there. Since then, she's been my right hand. She has pushed me to think and grow, protected me when I needed to focus on myself, and been a sounding board when I needed to figure out difficult problems. Through all of the things that we have been through, conversations we have had, and wild plans that we have made (we probably should revisit some of those), there are a ton of stories that I could tell. So how do you choose? What metaphor do you want to tell about someone that has contributed so much to you personally and professionally? What does that story need to convey?

The answer is that this isn't a good story, it's an anecdote. There's a difference between a story and an anecdote. A story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. In a good story, you don't see the end coming at the beginning. But an anecdote is predictable. You know how it will end right from the start. That's why I think the story of my sister Uvonda is an anecdote. From the start, I knew that the day would come when she would get the opportunity to develop her own vision and lead her own school. Fortunately, I was able to be there to see the beginning of this predictable tale and of those of you that have been here since she arrived, you've seen that beginning as well. So rather than tell a story, I'll celebrate this anecdote. We all knew that this day would come and I couldn't be more proud of her. We will miss her leadership, her creativity, and her ability to find resources outside of our building to make things work. In the end, I think it will be better becasue she can pour those skills into the students that come to us, and for that, I am grateful. So in the time left, I'll keep the stories that we have shared as great memories and I'll celebrate the anecdote that I always saw coming.