Interview with Sophie Kroesen, 2nd VP, Toronto Occasional Teacher

Interview with Sophie Kroesen, 2nd VP, Toronto Occasional Teacher 

Invisible Mentor: Sophie Kroesen
Company Name: Toronto Occasional Teacher, Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario
Website: http://www.etfo-torots.org/ 

Interview with Sophie Kroesen, 2nd VP, Toronto Occasional Teacher

Part One: Introduction

Avil Beckford: In a couple of sentences, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Sophie Kroesen: I am a pretty happy, outgoing person. I enjoy being with, and meeting new people. I also enjoy the new situation that I’m in, which is organizing professional learning workshops for our members.

Avil Beckford: When you say “our members”, could you tell the audience who “our members” are?

Sophie Kroesen: Last year I took on a position in my local union as the 2nd Vice President, and through the position, I organize professional learning workshops for the members of our local, Occasional Teachers in Toronto.

Avil Beckford: What’s a typical day like for you?

Sophie Kroesen: in the morning, I drive to the office, get here, check my emails and register people for workshops, send them acceptance emails for the workshops, organize the catering, and occasionally take phone calls from the members who need assistance.

Avil Beckford: Tell me about your big break and who gave you.

Sophie Kroesen: I was an occasional teacher in Toronto for about nine years before I started in this new position. I was at a professional development workshop and the woman who was organizing it said to me that she was not going to be running for this elected position the following year, and would it be something that I would be interested in running for. So I listened to what was involved and thought, wow, I do like organizing events, I do love planning, I do love meeting new people and I love the ongoing learning that the union, or local provides, and it was something I was interested in. So, I ran for the position (Third Vice President actually) and I was acclaimed into that position. The Second Vice President who was also acclaimed stepped down, and I moved into the Second Vice President position.

Part Two: Career

Avil Beckford: How did mentors influence your life?

Sophie Kroesen: When I was in university, I was part of a program called Youth Assisting Youth, it was a peer-mentoring program. I think that’s where I started realizing the impacts mentors can have in your life. I was a mentor to a 13-year old girl who was struggling in many ways, and as we continued in our journey through the program – Youth Assisting Youth – I realized the impact that I was having on her life was quite substantial. I then started to look at who were the mentors in my life. I really did not have that many, especially in the role as an occasional teacher; you move around to different schools, you’re not staying in one place. It’s hard to find mentors. When I moved into this position, our President, First Vice President and Treasurer are all people who have definitely helped me learn the ropes, learn how to be successful in this position, if I am successful yet.  I think coming in everyday to three people who support my weaknesses, if I am not successful in something, I do not feel put down in the environment that I am working in; I feel supported. They help me to see different viewpoints, we talk about it. Lots of open communication from the mentors in my life and my office space.

Avil Beckford: What’s one core message you received from your mentors?

Sophie Kroesen: It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s okay to even fail. You just keep trying it until you get it right. Don’t get discouraged if you fail because everyone makes mistakes and everyone isn’t successful every time. But the people who keep rising up are the people who keep trying.

Avil Beckford: An invisible mentor is a unique leader you can learn from by observing them from a distance. In that capacity, what is one piece of advice that you would give to others?

Sophie Kroesen: I would say to be kind to everyone you encounter, and to surround yourself with kind and honest people because you end up acting like the people you are around. To choose who you are around and make sure that everyone you are around feels special at some point or knows that they are important. If someone that’s serving you is short, or rude even, and maybe that person is having a bad day for their own personal reasons, do not snap back at them. Just be a good person.

Avil Beckford: What big steps did you take to succeed in your field? What is one step or action you have consistently taken that contribute the most to your success? Not be afraid to ask.

Sophie Kroesen: The big steps that are taken are to ask, ask a lot of questions, not be afraid to ask, and that comes from the supportive environment that I am working in. So being able, and feeling safe in asking questions because that’s how I learn, and that’s how I am going be successful. One step or action that I have consistently taken is to continue my own professional growth and learning through the provincial organization ETFO [The Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario]. They offer a lot of professional growth conferences and workshops that have greatly assisted me in learning how unions work and what’s involved in member representation, and helping out the people we are representing.

Avil Beckford: Tell me something that you consider important about the work that you do that others can learn from. 

Interview with Sophie Kroesen, 2nd VP, Toronto Occasional Teacher

Sophie Kroesen: What I would consider is important is the leadership qualities that I had to develop myself. So learning about myself, my own strengths and being aware of what are not strengths, not necessarily weaknesses, but what are not my strengths, and the awareness that comes with realizing that it might be one of those moments, that is not my strongest, and having maybe a toolkit and strategies for managing the situation that I might find myself in. So I had to learn about my own leadership ability and learn how to effectively communicate with others, given my own abilities as a leader or as a communicator. As an occasional teacher for the length of time that I was, I basically was in a classroom and I was the leader and everyone had to listen to me because they had to, because I was the teacher. But working in an environment where everyone’s opinions and thoughts count, and matter, I’ve had to learn how to function in that environment, hopefully, as an effective communication team leader and team worker.

Part Three: Life

Avil Beckford: Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?

Sophie Kroesen: I don’t know if I have a “biggest failure” because I have only been doing this over one year, some of the failures I have encountered have been mistakes in the workshops, and participant registration, in the caterers, and presenters not showing up, in part because I may have given the wrong information or maybe a miscommunication.  So, I guess what I have learned from that is to confirm everything and to make sure there is fluid communication between presenters, between participants, and even the office staff that I am working with; that there is very open and constant communication between us and that increases communication, because I have a tendency to want to do things by myself and to figure it out by myself. That increase in communication and willingness to talk, I go back to it, but that feeling of it’s safe to talk and ask questions, bounce ideas off of people, that helps to achieve greater success.

Avil Beckford: What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?

Sophie Kroesen: In work or in life?

Avil Beckford: You can answer whichever way you want.

Sophie Kroesen: One of the toughest decisions was whether I wanted to continue in this position because some personalities I have had to encounter and work with have been extremely difficult and very trying for me. It was a tough decision for me to decide whether I wanted to continue on in this role as 2nd Vice President through this journey of learning, that’s what I call it, through the union, OR go back to the safe place for me, which is teaching in different classrooms, every day, seeing different kids, not really committing to anything, just to the day, teaching that one day. How has it impacted my life, well, we will see next year. Hopefully it’s going to have a good impact.

Avil Beckford: What are three events that helped to shape your life?

Sophie Kroesen:

1. The first one would be the peer mentoring program that I did through Youth Assisting Youth. The girl that I mentored, we are still in contact, in fact, she is the godmother of my daughter. Learning through her, learning through the program. And they offered a lot, at a young age when I was 18 in University, they offered a lot of courses for me to go to, about leadership, about community involvement, so that would be one.
2. The second event would be having my two children. My three year old son and my four year old daughter, they definitely shaped my life in many ways.
3. The third event would be, more recently, my childhood friend. My best friend from childhood passed away, and the message that she left behind, she knew that it was, she knew that as a result of surgery, it was a possibility [that she could pass away], and the message she left behind was her favourite line from a movie, “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is to love, and be loved in return”, and to remember that.

Avil Beckford: What’s an accomplishment that you are proudest of?

Sophie Kroesen: Choosing to take on this role. As I mentioned before, instead of the safety of just going into a different classroom every day, which I love, and I do love it, knowing that the students are going to listen to me because they have to. They don’t always listen to an occasional teacher, we know this. But [rather than] taking a role on where more than 30 kids in a classroom are relying on you each day, [instead, taking on a role] where people are relying on you for their professional learning, to assist them, to guide them through their own professional careers. So being elected into this position, the feeling of responsibility that comes with it, was a big accomplishment for me, personally, to take on that responsibility.

Avil Beckford: What are five life lessons that you have learned so far?

Sophie Kroesen:

1. The first one is to be kind to everyone you encounter. To give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Even if you are having a bad day, to try and come up with something to grateful for in that day. Hopefully see, that it is never too late to start over even if you are just having a bad day.
2. Listen to people, to not always have to be talking, or always have to give your opinion, or have your opinion heard, just to listen.
3. Another one would be to try things, even if it is scary, even if you are afraid of failing, even if you are afraid of making mistakes. You won’t really know unless you try things. It sounds cliché but it’s true.
4. Number four, when people say, it’s a little dramatic, live each day as if it’s your last, at least if it’s not your last, live each day as if it’s someone else’s last, and treat people accordingly.
5. The last one would be to do whatever you have to do to feel your own confidence. Make sure that you feel confident, and if you don’t [feel confident in yourself], work on figuring out why. Eliminate those whys and then bring in what will make you feel confident.

Avil Beckford: If trusted friends could introduce you to five people (living or dead) that you’ve always wanted to meet, who would you choose? And what’s one question or thing you would say to them?

Sophie Kroesen: I would probably want to meet Nelson Mandela; Barack Obama; Kate Middleton; Joan of Arc.

Sophie Kroesen: It has to be people I’ve never met, right?

Avil Beckford: It’s interesting, because some people would want to have a conversation with their younger self, or even the parent or grandparent that died, so you can answer whatever. My attitude allows me to get the most amazing responses.

Sophie Kroesen: No doubt. The last person would be, I would say, me when I’m older.

Avil Beckford: Okay, I’ve heard that response. So, is there one question you would like to say?

Sophie Kroesen: What’s it like to be you?

Avil Beckford: Which one book had a profound impact on your life? What was it about this book that impacted you so deeply?

Sophie Kroesen: It was Jane Eyre. And what impacted me so deeply was the fact that you never know what can happen, and that Jane was so persistent, and it was inspiring, even though the end wasn’t so lovely.

Avil Beckford: If you are allowed to take 5 books with you on a desert island, and on the island you are going to spend two years, which 5 books would you take with you, and how would you spend the two years apart from reading? At this stage in the game there really aren’t any losers among the 10 finalists, since each are guaranteed at least $2 million.

Sophie Kroesen: The five books I would take with me, and I’m not going to list them all because I can’t, I don’t know right now, but I would research which five books are the most prominent in each religion and  I would take those, and I would read those. Take in world information. And how I would spend my time other than reading, do I have a pen and paper? Because I would write.

Avil Beckford: Yes, you can take that.

Sophie Kroesen: I would write. A lot.

Avil Beckford: Complete the following, I am happy when….. 

Sophie Kroesen: When other people are happy around me.

Get Started Here – I want to help you get started on your learning journey. Read The Invisible Mentor 2015 Reading Challenge, then Join the Facebook Group for the Reading Challenge today, connecting the ideas from the books you read!

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