by SAL GORDON
Head of Teaching and Learning, Green School Bali

 

After my schooling, I quickly realised that most of what I had learned in more than 15 years of schooling was meaningless. In a way, I realised that school had impeded my education. My gap-year turned into a gap decade, where I travelled and worked around the world, learning new languages, customs, cultures. I worked different jobs and upskilled my life-skills; I worked in sales and I did office jobs, I wrote books, drove trucks, worked in bars and restaurants, ran warehouses, worked in labs, built houses. You name it, I probably did it – adapting to everything new (again and again), building resilience, and fine-tuning my love of people, for learning, and for this beautiful planet. My favourite job (before becoming a teacher) was sailing boats – sailing changed my life. I found an instant, natural and holy connection between the water, the wind, and a boat. I realised that the treasures I was in search of weren’t gold and gems, that the real treasures in life were all around me – our beautiful natural environment, the awesome humans, the creativity, the challenges, the love … these are most precious to me. I knew my true calling was in Teaching and Learning – afterall, that’s what I have been doing all of my life – I knew that as a Peaceful Pirate Principal I could help people find their real treasures.

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