A WORD FROM THE DG Getting Better I know it should not matter one bit, but for some reason I am obsessed with becoming a better long-distance cyclist. On the other hand, I golf occasionally and I am okay with going through the motions, having a good walk and enjoying conversation and friendship on the golf course. If I get more or less the same score when I turn sixty-five that I got when I played with my friends while we were in college together, c’est la vie. Cycling is entirely different for me. I read all sorts of cycling blogs, get esoteric magazines with articles about the importance of the suppleness of the sidewalls on bicycle tires, how to choose the highest calorie-per-gram food you can find at a grocery store and who makes the best handmade leather saddles. My wife complains about me reading the user manual for my latest cycling computer in bed. I ask her whether I should shave my legs to get a bit more aerodynamic and as a precaution for a fall. You don’t want hair matted into a road rash after crashing, but that is probably too much information for you right now. You can guess how many eye rolls I got in response to the question about shaving my legs. Ask me about cycling clothing if you have a few hours to spare. It gets worse. If I am in a coffee shop and I see a custom-made bicycle parked outside, I won’t leave until I find the owner and ask her all about it. I look at cycling YouTube videos of cyclists who share their tips on how they found the right cadence for different cycling conditions. And I ask my children to take videos of me cycling so that I can figure out things I can tweak that would make a more effective hill climber. I know I am not going to win the Tour de France and probably not the Paris–Brest– Paris brevet that is a recreation of the original race held every four years (PBP for aficionados). But I am determined that I improve something every time I ride. I may have to swipe through several screens on my cycling app to find it; but I want something to be better than my previous best. I want that to be
true the next time I ride. And true for the last pedal stroke I take on this planet. So what does that have to do with being the newest Director General of Ecolint? If you look closely at the Ecolint mission statement you will see this: “The school strives continually… to do better than its previous best.” I know that Ecolint is the oldest international school in the world and the birthplace of the International Baccalaureate Diploma. I also know you can’t relive the past.
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When I saw the audacity behind the aim always to do better than the previous best, it felt like a place I wanted to be a part of, a place for growth and maybe even the launchpad for the next international education moon shot. I am not here to play golf. I am here to cycle. I can hardly wait to ride with all Ecolint staff in a team pursuit of the best educational experience possible for each student. David Hawley Director General
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