Why I stepped back from the volunteer grind (and what I am doing now)
Last year I made a commitment to myself: be done with grinding for free for SFUSD. This promise was easier on paper than in reality and it took me 14 months to finish out all my commitments. Don’t get me wrong: I am proud of many things I accomplished as a heavily invested volunteer. However, the more involved I got, the more supportive I became, the more diminished the returns. Take my social life for instance. They say that these boards are a great way to meet people and they are but they are a great way to either intimidate or alienate most people. On one hand, people are really impressed about the commitment and they thank you for your time and energy you’re putting into the school. On the other hand, they roll their eyes when you invite them to a meeting or when they make a complaint while waiting for the morning drop off to finish and you respond with an educated and nuanced answer. Coffee invites don’t come frequently from that crowd. Take my favorite example of this scenar...