Under the Iceberg

On Thursday of last week, the future principal of my school and I headed to Richard’s Bay, a medium sized city on the coast of the Indian Ocean, for a Peace Corps workshop to help us plan for the next school year. For me, it was the beginning of nearly two weeks of meetings and training sessions of various sorts with various people at two different locations, although my principal left yesterday to be back at school today.

In general, the goal of the few days was to make sure that we were on the same page as far as what was to be expected of each other. How many classes would I teach? When would those classes be scheduled? What procedure should be followed if I am not able to come to school? Those sorts of things. I would also have a chance to share some of the observations that I made during my first three months at the school. It was a time for us both to reflect on the past three months since I arrived and to plan ahead so that the rest of my service is as useful to the school as possible and as successful as possible for me.

At one session in particular, I remember an analogy being made that I really took to heart and wanted to try to remember as I move forward in this journey. It was said by the Peace Corps staff member that ran all of the sessions that right now we only see “the tip of the iceberg” when it comes to knowing about each other. That we should not be fooled into thinking we obtained all the information there is to know in three months. If you think about an iceberg, there is far more of it hidden under the water than what we can see above the surface. This does not mean we should be scared or worried, but that we should not be surprised that in the coming weeks and months after the new school year begins we will continue to learn new things about the ways we operate and communicate. I just need to keep this in mind when things creep up on me that I may not like or want to deal with.