Full Circle Moments
As an educator, I have always found a certain beauty in geometry, specifically in the clean logic required to figure out angles and areas, calculating precisely how lines connect and boundaries are formed. I love that geometric shapes can serve as powerful metaphors, offering students tangible visual models when they are grappling with complex, abstract ideas.
Throughout my tenure as Head of Lower School, I relied heavily on the structure of the triangle to illustrate the essential, interconnected partnership between parents, students, and educators—a concept for which I owe a heartfelt debt of gratitude to Wendy Mogel!
Yet, among all shapes, I am particularly drawn to the circle. I deeply appreciate the profound notion of a full circle and finding meaningful ways to apply that reassuring concept of completion and return to my own journey.
Recently, I feel as though I have experienced a series of powerful full circle moments that have bridged my past with my present. Just this week, I found myself going through the formal application process for the University of the Pacific as a direct result of my ongoing educational work with the Bay Area Teachers Training Institute (BATTI), which maintains a close affiliation with UOP.
As I filled out the forms, vivid flashbacks flooded in from my undergraduate years on that very campus. Back then, I never could have imagined returning to work for the university in any professional capacity. It wasn't that I lacked affection for my college years, I truly cherished my time there, it was simply that I assumed our paths had diverged for good.
Completing official paperwork and eventually being issued a UOP email address felt profoundly surreal. Seeing my new address, lvanness@pacific.edu, felt like stepping into a reality I never could have scripted.
Now, serving as a clinical supervisor guiding graduate students through BATTI, I feel that same spark of eagerness as I mentor motivated, passionate future educators who share the exact same love for teaching that inspired me decades ago.
My second full circle milestone unfolded just a few days later, when my daughter went in for a job interview at her K-12 school alma mater, a school that served as my own professional home for twenty-four wonderful years. Remarkably, Head-Royce had gone without a member of the Van Ness family on campus for only a single year before the next generation arrived to carry on the legacy.
I am filled with immense pride seeing her leverage her considerable talents in marketing and strategic communications to join the school's admissions team starting this coming academic year.
Experiencing these overlapping full circle moments naturally stirs up a deep well of nostalgic memories, offering a lovely invitation to wander down memory lane before grounding myself back in the present and looking toward the future with genuine excitement and optimism.