Episode 1 0

In this audio recording, Riley Olson introduces himself and talks about his transition from law enforcement to education. He explains how his skills from his previous career, such as patience, intentional communication, and developing thick skin, have helped him in his role as a school administrator. He also emphasizes the importance of understanding the needs and challenges of the students he works with, and building rapport and trust with them. Despite feeling uncertain at times, he believes he made the right choice to help and support students in his community. Hey, how you doing? This is Riley Olson. I'd like to thank those listening on today, December 3rd, 2023. This is the first episode of Rise Above. We'll focus on the day-to-day operations within education. I'd like to take today's first episode to really kind of introduce myself and my transition into education and some of the things that I've dealt with as being, for the most part, a first-year administrator within public education. So, looking back and being a first-year administrator, I tend to fall back on the skills that I developed, that I practiced and were eventually hardwired in my 20-year career in law enforcement. I spent most of that time within a uniform, did 10 years on a SWAT team, several years undercover or plainclothes detective, and crime units and whatnot. And a lot of that time helped me develop the skill sets that I use on a day-to-day basis as being a new school administrator. So, last year, towards the tail end of my law enforcement career, I opted to take the opportunity to become a school resource officer in a small rural public school in central Michigan and really enjoyed my time there, even though it was short. I really enjoyed being in the hallways and developing relationships and working with staff and students. And I was very fortunate that a position opened up for the dean of students within our high school. And somehow, on a whim, I opted to forego my previous life and get into the world of education. So, I'm currently working on my master's degree in education leadership and supervision administration to work either towards being an assistant principal or eventually possibly a principal itself. So, a few of the skills that I lean back on from day-to-day, because like I said, I'm not from the realm of education, is basically the things that I can only compare to customer service. In law enforcement, that is the extreme version of customer service. We're showing up every day to every call at the dinnertime telemarketer that calls. We're showing up every time to the Amazon package that's on your porch and the corners are dented. We're showing up every day and every situation where, you know, you bought the wrong size and took the tags off prematurely. Every time we are there, it's not the greatest day in the world. So, during that time, I developed, like I said, I developed, practiced, and I would believe hard-wired a few skill sets that I lean back on today. And the first one is patience. Understanding that, you know, I need to be patient with my customers, with my clients and now my students. Understanding that my students are not light switches. I can't just flip them on and off. They're not going to just change their behavior with a flick of my finger or because I say so. Understanding that it's going to take some time to basically reprogram their conditioned behaviors. The next one is intentional communication. I pride myself on being very upfront and honest with my students. I was very upfront and honest on the road. You know, if I dealt with you out in the public and you were wrong, I was going to let you know that you were wrong. I was going to lay out the facts. I was going to be very upfront. I was going to be very blunt without being demeaning. And I do the same thing with my students. I think they deserve that. I don't believe that they should be manipulated or given or coddled, I should say, a different narrative. The next one is, and probably a pretty big one, is developing thick skin. Like I said, when I was dealing with people out on the road in uniform or at a front door at a car accident or at a traffic stop, people weren't exactly happy to see us. And the same thing kind of happens today. I now operate as a dean of students. My primary responsibilities are day-to-day operations and discipline. And discipline is one of those things that can be handled one of two ways. It can be handled as a black and white, you've done wrong, or it can be handled as a learning thing. But in the course of that, there oftentimes is not a lot of pleasure. There's not a lot of happy-go-lucky feelings about the fact that somebody's being called out on their misbehavior or their misguided choices. So there is some resentment. There is some pushback. So I always tell my students that I never take it personal, but I'll always hold them accountable. And I think partnered with the intentional communication and patience that's helped develop in understanding that they truly do accept that I'm just doing my job at this point in time. A big one for me, and this was a big way that I was able and I was fortunate enough to be granted this position, was understanding. I was very fortunate that I understood and still understand the demographic of our current community. I understand the needs and the lack of resources. I understand the issues that our students face, not only from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. when they're at school, but more importantly, from 3 p.m. to 8 a.m., knowing what they leave school to go back to and what they come from to go to school, I think gives me a lot of empathy and is able to allow me to relate more to the students on a more genuine level. And lastly, I would say enjoy the rapport. I spent a lot of time as the school resource officer in the hallways getting to know the students, poring over picture books so I could identify people by first and last names, being intentional of showing them that I want to get to know them, want to develop relationships, want to develop trust, because I always say, I will trust you until you show me that you can't be trusted. At the same time, I think my students hold me to that same level of accountability. I've developed a rapport and I've enjoyed doing so to the point where I think I've shown them I can be trusted and it's my job to continue to earn that trust within them because they're not a very trusting population. So as a first-year administrator, I'm loving everything that I'm doing. Sometimes I don't think I know what I'm doing at all, but I do know that I absolutely made the right choice to step into a position to help develop, nurture and care for students in a population and in an area where that's what they need the most. I want to thank everybody that's listening today. I appreciate your time to stop by and listen to what I have to say. Hopefully you can take a little bit away from it. And remember, as the great philosopher Jeff Spicoli said, if I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time? Thank you.