Really?

It’s late in the day and I start my quick routine of checking home e-mails. Click, click, type, type and sure enough, I see the usual list of emails. Nothing new, maybe a bill-pay confirmation, a few department store ads, a couple of Groupons and a friend request from someone I don’t know. I quite expertly delete the junk, save the ones that might be useful and log out without much fanfare. It’s then I see it. The teaser for the online Xfinity news article reads “Highest Paying Jobs with Most Time Off.”  Well this will be interesting. I take a peek. Judges are first on the list, occupational therapists next, and much to my surprise, school principals are third. Really? I am a high school principal at Benilde-St. Margaret's. My surprise is on several levels. First, I don’t think of being a principal as a “job” and secondly, what’s “time off?” 

I suppose a clinical psychologist might say I need to improve my boundaries, draw clearer lines between my professional and personal life. But being a principal is just who I am all the time, not just during the school day or only between September and June. There is no line between “job” and “time off.” Being a high school principal is nothing less than a great adventure. Each day brings new and interesting challenges, opportunities to see young people flourish and moments of pure joy in simply walking the halls and popping in on classes. I see students poring over textbooks, researching online, scratching out math problems or debating each other over philosophical issues. I am amazed every day by the commitment and energy level of the faculty…How do they do it? Their focus on the quality of the student experience is inspiring.

So do I have one of the highest paying jobs? Yes—my “job” pays rewards and dividends that money can’t buy, that exceed all earthly value. I am paid many times a day with smiles and laughter and a sense that all is right with the world because school is in session. I feel so lucky to be able to show up each day at a school I love, and spend time with students, faculty and staff. It doesn’t get any better than that.