The View From My Study 10 Janaury 2025
2025 – a new year, a new term and a new opportunity!
The other day I stumbled across the story of Howard Schultz who grew up in a working-class household and became the first in his family to attend university. In the early 1980s he worked for a small coffee company called Starbucks which, back then, sold only coffee beans and equipment. During a trip to Italy, Schultz noticed how Italian cafés were places where people gathered and connected, not just for coffee but for a sense of community.
Schultz seized on this insight and proposed transforming Starbucks into a café-style business. The founders were opposed to the idea so Schultz took a chance, left Starbucks, and started his own coffee company based on the Italian café concept. A successful year later, he returned to buy Starbucks, and he then set about transforming it into the global coffee empire it is today.
Schulz saw an opportunity and he seized it. He noticed something that others were overlooking and his story reminds us that with creativity, determination, and courage, one can turn a simple idea into something extraordinary.
A new year brings new opportunities and the chance to change and improve. Sometimes change is hard; it probably means coming out of the comfort zone with courage and determination. But if we set targets (as we often do in a new year) and want to succeed and do something extraordinary, these are the attributes we need. As an anonymous wise person supposedly once said, “When life gives you lemons, trade them for coffee.”
The curtailed sporting plan has been a frustration in an otherwise excellent first week back. The many smiles and reverberations of laughter around the school have been lovely to see and hear and it has been a pleasure to be back. The children have not stopped their physical exercise but the freezing temperatures have prevented play on the Astro and netball courts and we know this has been a disappointment for many children who have been eager to develop their skills. Normal play will hopefully be resumed soon.
