For the past 14 months, I have been answering lots of questions with these six words: "I don't have my visa, yet." Since I accepted the position of Head of School of Keystone Academy in Beijing in the late spring of 2021, small talk seemed to start with some question about when I was leaving for China and truth was, it depended on when my visa was approved. Too long a story, so I just used these words to move the conversation along.
The "yet" was something that most educators have been using aggressively at least since the work of Carol Dweck has become popularized--the growth mindset! I didn't have my visa then, but that is not forever, there was a hopefulness that it will come! This is the same way we would encourage a student to shift language from, "I can't do this!" to "I can't do it yet!" The research behind the power of that tiny word is extraordinary; "yet" builds capacity for persistence in complex or difficult tasks that are foundational to learning.
I had enjoyed travel visas to China before, in fact, I had a current one that was canceled when the pandemic started. And, I knew that a work visa would have more steps and I was so lucky to be supported by the amazing team at my new school. And, this process was onerous. I had to get health checks, have my degrees certified by the Chinese Consulate, submit endless paperwork, get a non-criminal background check, have that notarized, get another one because the first one expired, etc. . . Most weeks this year, my "action list" had a single box with "Visa next steps".
In dramatic fashion, we got word that my visa was ready on a Friday, my flight to China was the next weekend, so things were looking good, but there was concern that shipping the visa to Honolulu from the Los Angeles Consulate was a risk, time-wise. So, I flew to LA to pick it up in person!
It's hard to describe what it feels like to not have to lean on those six little words any more. I come from a long line of performative superstition-- we all knock on wood when someone says something we hope will happen to avoid a jinx, and say "rabbit, rabbit" on the first of the month for good luck. I think that "yet" has become part of that tradition, and the first ritual in this space, that actually works. Because, guess what, I got my visa!
The "yet" was something that most educators have been using aggressively at least since the work of Carol Dweck has become popularized--the growth mindset! I didn't have my visa then, but that is not forever, there was a hopefulness that it will come! This is the same way we would encourage a student to shift language from, "I can't do this!" to "I can't do it yet!" The research behind the power of that tiny word is extraordinary; "yet" builds capacity for persistence in complex or difficult tasks that are foundational to learning.
I had enjoyed travel visas to China before, in fact, I had a current one that was canceled when the pandemic started. And, I knew that a work visa would have more steps and I was so lucky to be supported by the amazing team at my new school. And, this process was onerous. I had to get health checks, have my degrees certified by the Chinese Consulate, submit endless paperwork, get a non-criminal background check, have that notarized, get another one because the first one expired, etc. . . Most weeks this year, my "action list" had a single box with "Visa next steps".
In dramatic fashion, we got word that my visa was ready on a Friday, my flight to China was the next weekend, so things were looking good, but there was concern that shipping the visa to Honolulu from the Los Angeles Consulate was a risk, time-wise. So, I flew to LA to pick it up in person!
It's hard to describe what it feels like to not have to lean on those six little words any more. I come from a long line of performative superstition-- we all knock on wood when someone says something we hope will happen to avoid a jinx, and say "rabbit, rabbit" on the first of the month for good luck. I think that "yet" has become part of that tradition, and the first ritual in this space, that actually works. Because, guess what, I got my visa!
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