Hey! Look! We're Already Here!

As a new administrator (and a fairly young one, relatively speaking), I am often questioned regarding my level of expertise, or I am doubted because I am “too naïve” “too green” “she’ll learn”. I smile and know that what I lack in years, I more than make up for in my experiences.

As technologically-saavy people talk about the Net Generation, Generation X, Generation Y, the Digital Natives, oftentimes they warn educators and administrators that the future is coming! Our students are smarter than ever, better multi-taskers than ever, more willing to take calculated risks than ever. But I always hear these stories when referring to people who are under 18. I was raised with computers. I spent my elementary school years learning how to write very basic code and I distinctly recall one particular computer class where we typed a bunch of numbers and words and symbols on the flip side of the floppy disk, took the disk out, put it back in and stuff happened on the screen! I was hooked. I had the power to make things happen at the age of 8.

So it’s almost like an out-of-body experience when I hear keynote speakers discuss the generation that will be coming into colleges and companies, and I’m already here, and I’m already a leader in education. The question needs to be: how do we make sure that folks like me don’t get squelched (not that we’d let that happen, anyway).