Natalie Poli

I think learning very early on, especially through my stroke and heart procedure, and really through my first divorce, that you have to persevere through things. When I had my stroke and my heart procedure, I wasn't ready for that - I was young, and I had a young child and a baby at the time. I had no idea that I was born with a congenital heart defect, and I wasn't prepared for losing all my speech and all the feeling in the right side of my body. I made a full recovery, which was amazing, but I had to have a heart procedure and now have two devices in my heart. You have to learn that there may be things - we all have a plan in life, but we're not the ultimate holder of that plan. God, or your higher power, has a plan for you. You just need to be ready to persevere, stay committed, and find the path that brings you to the answer that you need. You need to be prepared to work really hard for it.

The best career advice I've ever received is sometimes you just need to let things go. You can't do it all. As a school principal, you just can't do it all - you'll burn yourself out. You really have to understand that some things just need to be let go. It's about understanding that in certain situations, not everything is on the high importance scale. There are things that other people can take on, and it's okay to build leaders within those that you work with. It does not have to fall all on the building principal.

Don't be afraid to want to attain the highest level, whatever that means for you. That might mean being a lead teacher, that might mean being on four committees as a teacher, that might be going into administration and wanting to be at the district office level as a director, assistant superintendent, or even superintendent. We shouldn't feel that we can't attain those highest level positions. I know people think I should be a superintendent - I'm just not ready yet. I want to finish my degree, I want to do the principalship longer. There's so much to learn. I've only been a principal for 2 years, going on 3. One might say that it takes at least 5 years to really build what you want to build in your school as a principal. Women need to not be afraid to apply for the positions that they think they're a great fit for. We have to remove the stigma that we have to stop at a certain point. We can truly have whatever role in education that we want. Go for what you feel you're gonna be amazing at, because you deserve it and you can do it.

I think we're definitely seeing a lot of openings in terms of principalships and also as we look at district-level opportunities. My main goal is to continue to be dedicated to my new role in my new elementary school and bring continued success - it's a very successful elementary school already, so I want to continue to bring success to that school, to the students in regards to their learning, the teachers in regards to their teaching, and just the community as a whole. I see myself being a principal for quite some time longer, but also eventually moving on to district-level positions as well. I think that's just natural - we all want career advancement at some point. Right now I'm just focused on being the best elementary school principal I can be in my new district and seeing what the future might hold for me. I'm a firm believer in what's meant for us won't miss us, and that opportunities that we're being called to will present themselves when ready.

I think being true to the things that you believe in - think about your beliefs, your morals, your values, and don't change those for others. Hold true to what you firmly believe in. We talk a lot in education about your educational philosophy, and I always say my educational philosophy aligns very closely to just my personal philosophy. So, holding true to what you believe in, what your values, morals, and beliefs are. And I think, be yourself. My motto, I share this a lot, is be bold, be brave, and be you. Advocate for those things that you believe in. Educate others on those topics when you can, and also be an inspiration, because even though someone may not be asking for your help, you still might be inspiring them from afar, because help is for people who need it, not for people who want it.