Often when I’m sitting through interviews for a teaching position, administrators will describe a candidate as being green. Now if you look up the meaning of the word when used in this particular context, you’ll find that it means:
deficient in training, knowledge or experience
or
not fully qualified for or experienced in a particular function.
Usually, the administrator is using the word in the context of not hiring the person. I’m not hiring Candidate X because they are “too green.” It makes me think back to when I was also too green. I was not an education major. I was hired for my first teaching position with only four education classes under my belt and three months of student teaching experience. Someone saw past my greenness. They were also in a desperate time crunch. But despite me being green, it worked out in the end.
When others at the table are dismissing the novices, I try to see if I can recognize anything beyond the green. It kind of reminds me of the little plastic green soldiers you would play with as a kid. Although they all seemed the same, and were plastic in nature, the key was figuring out what separates them from the others. Sometimes, if you dig deep enough into the bag, you’d find one that was unique and stood out in some way. Maybe it was the one with the parachute attached that could fly. Maybe it was the one holding a bazooka or holding a specific action pose. There was definitely something that stood out about that individual soldier.
Once you figured it out, this little plastic green soldier was always the one that would rise to the top of the pile, the one that ultimately showed the potential despite the greenness.
Don’t let green dissuade you.
Look deeper. Find unique.
Find the little plastic green soldier who is going to make a difference.
Rich