Concord, Massachusetts, U.S. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803 – April 27, 1882) was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. (Wikipedia)
Emerson is accredited with being the first to say:
“Life is a journey, not a destination.”
My life has been one heck of a journey, taking me halfway round the world and back and punctuated by many funny, scary and traumatic experiences on the way. My talks have long reflected this and now – to my pride – my new book, ‘It’s Just a Journey with Ros’ tells the tale.
I started writing ‘Journeys’ virtually, through my talks at conferences and events. I will never forget the first time I told the story of ‘Bernard’ – Head of Maths in the first school I taught in. Having been invited to speak at the first ever ‘Beyond Levels’ conference organised by Dame Alison Peacock (Chair of the Chartered College for teachers) and former Head teacher, Julie Lilly, I continued to speak at subsequent events. After one well known speaker had the audience laughing at his tales, Dame Alison challenged me publicly to:
“Follow that, Ros!”
So I did; and those of you who have heard the stories from my early days as a teacher will know why, on his very first public ‘outing’, Bernard brought the house down! He has been with me ever since on my journeys around the country, as has Stan, Mrs. Sparrowhawk and Michael’s gift.
You will be fascinated by tales of my very first flight, the American Missile Base and living through one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the Caribbean.
We lay, mainly silent, cuddling a child apiece, and listening wide eyed as the horrific noise outside grew to a thunderous roar. The hours passed — midnight and beyond, and the building rocked and shook, the roof creaked and groaned, lifting and sinking continuously, and many a time we feared the whole thing was going to fly off, or the walls would come down, but it withstood the fearsome storm.
The winds screamed on, and the rain was a dense, horizontal curtain of white — driving parallel to the ground, as impenetrable to see through as the thickest fog. Suddenly, at about four in the morning, silence fell. No wind or rain could be heard… only a deep, wet darkness could be discerned through the doors.
“T’is de eye…” muttered the Braccers in hushed, but knowing tones, and we all sat silently and waited for the predicted, resumed onslaught from the opposite direction…
We sat and gaped at the terrain before us, acres of huge boulders, many as large as a car, were piled between six and ten feet deep from the gently lapping water’s edge up to where the road must have been and on across the land and round the houses to the foot of the bluff. Sticking out from between the rocks, there were palm trees and whole sea grapes uprooted and protruding at crazy angles, punctuated by telegraph poles snapped like twigs, planks and iron bars (presumably from smaller constructions in yards), thousands of huge, full grown sponges ripped from the seabed, and heart-breaking masses of dead fish of all sizes.
(It’s Just a Journey with Ros: May 2020)
You will be amazed by my adventures on the ocean, on the roads and in travels overseas.
But most of all, I hope you will agree that – at the end of the day – life is just a series of journeys; physical journeys, emotional journeys, professional journeys and learning journeys.
You will laugh, you may cry, but please enjoy it.
It's Just a Journey with Ros
Apollo moonshots could be seen taking off from Florida when Ros Wilson’s career took off in the Bahamas. A child of the forties, she trained as a teacher in the sixties and has also taught in the Cayman Islands, the Middle East and even the UK. Having been hit by Hurricane Alan, honked out by a dead cat dragged in for the nature table and having helped haul sheep out of a crisis at Christmas, she found she’d salted enough wealth away in the bank of experience to take on consultancy work, too.
She now writes authoritatively on educational practice and policy.
Of popular and professional interest, her story can now be read for fun, hilarity or interest by all. No parent ill-informed about the professional background of school teachers, nor would-be schoolteachers ill-informed about what they could be in for, will regret relaxing and enjoying the fun and laughter of It’s Just a Journey with Ros by Ros Wilson.
