"I can, and I will."
Or, the tale of an inspirational seminar (of sorts) and the man who gave it.

Some teachers are good at their job to the point that it shows. Whatever the foul, odious little turds they have to teach might think of them personally, said turds have to concede that they're good at their job. This is true both of the ones who relate well to their students and are popular, and those who are loathed and feared - as long as they deliver the material well, you can't criticise their ability to teach.

I had an old headmaster was one of these. It was hard to tell whether the students liked him or loathed him on the whole, but it was generally recognised that he was effective. Had I been a bit older and more cynical, however, I probably would have noticed the whiff of management training about him - once a week we'd the lot of us would be shepherded into the school's largest hall, where he'd talk at us for half an hour or so in an attempt to motivate us. One such lecture that stuck in my mind was the one on positive attitude.
"You achieve nothing," he told us, "by being defeatist. Time and again, I ask pupils why they're not achieving their full potential, and they tell me, 'I can't do it.'

"This attitude will get you nowhere. It shouldn't be 'I can't, so I won't,' it should be 'I can, and I will.'"

There it was. "I can, and I will" became his little mantra for positive attitude and self-motivation. I wouldn't have dared admit it to any my classmates at the time, but it even stuck with me - I have caught myself thinking it when struggling on with stuff.

A few years later, he left rather abruptly. This came as a shock, and the whole school took a turn for the worse, as the people who tried to replace him struggled to measure up to the job. To be fair, it wasn't for want of trying: it can be difficult to fill someone else's boots like that when they're that big a pair of boots.

Eventually, we found out why he'd left so suddenly. Turns out he'd caught with his hand in the till and his dick in one of the secretaries*. It was a shame that someone that well respected should have left under such a cloud, but then I guess he was true to his word: he could, so he did...

*_{Not literally. I can imagine that being quite a tricky position to maintain.}
(LongJohnBaldry, Sat 17 Mar 2012, 12:32, 2 replies)

..................................
Was this Malcolm Watson at John Willmott School in Birmingham?
(kickstandrich last had sex with your mum/sister/wife/daughter on, Sun 18 Mar 2012, 16:03, closed)

It was not.
Kind of reassuring to know he wasn't the only one.
(LongJohnBaldry, Tue 20 Mar 2012, 12:59, closed)