How has a failure, or apparent failure, set you up for later success?

in April 1975, I was given a compulsory transfer from a remote school in WA, to an appointment in Perth That moved me from the position of Headmaster at the school I left, to the position of classroom teacher at the Perth school.

For me, that was a very low point. I wondered where to next.

A few days later advertisement in the Newspaper offered people the opportunity to come to the Northern Territory as educators.

I answered the advertisement and followed it up with a conversation with the Van Commonwealth Teaching Service. We were interested in an appointment to the Northern Territory, anticipating we would start in 1976.

Within 24 hours I received a phone call and we were offered the choice of two appointments in the Northern Territory, with an immediate start.

Not wanting to leave Western Australia with an unsatisfactory record and knowing that we had to give a month’s notice, I communicated this with the service.

Spoke to our school principal of the school in which we’ve been placed and he was able to work things out so that we only had to give two weeks’ notice.

Without going further in detail, it worked out that we were able to leave our appointment in Western Australia and start in the Northern Territory in July 1975.

That was the start of a rejuvenated career. Had things not transpired as they did, maybe what was the terrific career launch into the Northern Territory would have never happened.