What a week it has been. I still cannot believe we have only been open for just over 2 weeks! Thank you once again for coming on the IFS journey with us.
This past week has been another whirlwind and I am afraid to say there are many more ahead of us all. Those of you who know me well, may have heard the following two statements I say often when confronted with difficult decisions or tough circumstances, these statements are:
“Life’s too short, blink your eyes and its gone.” In my mind this basically means to live life without fear. We have such a short time on this planet, it is much to short to worry about what ifs and maybes. We must embrace every opportunity and follow our hearts at all times because before you know it our time will have passed us by. Too often we hear about family, friends or associates whose lives have been cut short and it really shocks us into reality. It forces us to ask the tough questions about what are we doing with our lives and why am I holding back on doing the thing that I know I should really be doing? I know it is scary, however, trust me, the amount of freedom you feel when you let go and follow your passion is invigorating.
Ok, this one is very corny, however, I have been caught saying it on many occasions, “You’re alive when you’re alive and you can sleep when you’re dead!”. Ok, I might have misquoted the lyrics of this song slightly and I will be embarrassed for those who know where that line comes from, however, I have to say for me there is so much truth to that statement. I don’t mean the words literally, however, I find myself often asking the question, what I am doing right now? Is this the best use of my time? Some times sitting down and watching my favourite TV show is the best use of my time because we all need to “Sharpen the Saw” as Stephen Covey puts it, however, at other times I can feel paralysed and not able to make a decision that should be straight forward. Am I asleep to the world around me?
Some time ago I worked for a personal development company and one thing the main speaker of this company said on many occasions has stuck in my head ever since, “Make decisions in a heart beat”, he would then snap his fingers when he asked you a question and thats how easy it can be. Have the confidence to know that your heart knows best and make that decision. You can deal with the consequences, just decide and move on. It is surprising how often your first impression is right.
I thought you might be interested in the week that was from my perspective at IFS:
Sunday – I went up to Kariong on Sunday to do a few odd jobs and was surprised to see Sydney United were playing a series of trial matches with the Mariners Youth Development Squads. Of course I put some IFS flags up around our pool to let people know about the fact that there is a college on site now. I had my two little boys with me as well and we then spent the next 3 hours mowing and cleaning gutters on the side of the road! Photo of my boys helping is below…
Monday – We had the pleasure of having ABC News 24’s Amanda Shalala and Nick her camera man on campus for a large part of the day. Amanda did a number of interviews with some of our students, talked with Julie, Laura and myself and had an opportunity to take some footage of our children in the classroom, on the training pitch and in our cafe sharing lunch together. It was great watching the process of taping a TV feature and we look forward to seeing IFS on ABC news in the coming week.
Tuesday – I had the pleasure of giving Greg Brownlow from Future Star Academy (Tennis Coach from Newcastle) visit the college. Greg is an inspirational tennis coach and I am a big fan of the programs he runs out of three tennis centres in Newcastle.
On Tuesday afternoon I meet with Renee from Austereo (2G0 and SeaFM) and we are excited to say starting next Monday IFS will feature on the radio in the form of advertising and a number of live crosses to the 2G0 road crews for the next 4 weeks! It will be great to spread the IFS story to more families on the coast.
Wednesday – so have I told you about our bus saga? Number three bus has been found and we are in the process of completing the purchase of our third and final bus for 2013. I left home Wednesday morning at 2.30AM and arrived at Lockhart (just outside of Wagga Wagga) at 8.45AM. After a 30 min inspection and test drive I did the return trip to make sure I was at college to pick up my child at 3.30PM. I drove over 1250 kms on Wednesday and have to say I was pretty tired that night. Will hopefully be heading back down towards the end of next week to bring this bus back to the coast and get it on the road.
Thursday – I spent the morning at Central Coast Rudolf Steiner School assisting with some IT support and then back to IFS to catch up on a day and half of work. I had a phone interview with the Australian Teacher Magazine and then discovered my desk was starting to get covered with paperwork and it was great to discover our iPads had arrived. We will be spending the next two weeks getting the iPads ready for deployment for our students. Some very exciting times ahead for our students.
Friday – Meetings, Interviews and a great tour of Naisda (www.naisda.com.au). Debra from Naisda was kind enough to give Laura, Julie and I a tour of their amazing facility. I was blown away at the amazing dance studios and the great culture they have created within this space. The coast is filled with some amazing organisations and we are blessed to have them next door to us at Kariong.
Below are some more photos from our open day last week. Looking forward to posting some updates next week.
You’re a true champion Paul – great attitude, energetic and with such determination to get things done – truly a role model for the students to learn all about the positives of life. There’s no doubt this college will be a huge success and a beacon for others to follow. Congrats. to yourself for following your dream and to all your staff who have worked tirelessly to help achieve it.
Great work, maestro !! Still don’t know how you get half the things done that you do ? Anyway, it’s an inspiration to all..
And I thought I had a tiring week…..
Great work Paul,your efforts are amazing,these pictures are fantastic.Can you let us know when IFs will be on ABC.