I am writing to you after many previous attempts at communication. My first communication with you was 29 years ago and followed on from my mother's communications of 65 years ago. You failed to reply to either of us then and little has changed since. My daughter tried to communicate with you a few years ago, her voice went unheard, so she has since ceased further attempts at meaningful correspondence.
My letter seeks to bring your attention to those within your walls that you seem to have missed. I would hate to assume here that you just don't care enough about these souls, but after many years dealing with you in different roles I have to say, although harsh, this could very well be true.
My letter is a plea on behalf of all those you leave behind, push out, or simply choose not to see. It could be that you just need to look through different lenses because I am sorry to say, you are missing out on so much.
I would like to say the cause of this is blind ignorance, but unfortunately it would seem it is now just deliberate. You set your standards so rigidly that anyone that falls outside of this finds themselves on the outer, for the purposes of this letter I choose to call these souls the fringe dwellers.
Your rigidness chooses to only value what I would like to call the 'middle dwellers' which while inside your walls as a student, I chose not to be. Because of this you chose not to see me, to recognise my talents, to see worth in developing my abilities, to see the leadership abilities that actually lay dormant at the time, you chose not to have a relationship with me, I had no value to you. Sadly this led me to not value myself. It must feel strange to have me now working within; yet as far outside of the constraints of your system as I possible can.
Middle dwellers (or safe sitters as I have also termed them) yes let's address that. It is a strange term, but one used here in this letter to define those souls that do conform. They work to the criteria, they are biddable, they smile broadly at you each day exchanging pleasantries, they do little thinking of their own, but that is ok they don't really need to. Unfortunately dear system, you don't value thinking. These middle dwellers enjoy you, you are set up just for them. In fact you hold them up as leaders, recognise them with badges, lavish them with praise...all in an attempt to build more of these middle dwellers.
But what about the fringe dwellers? The ones that don't fit. The ones you don't really want...in fact you'd rather they just were not there, what about them?
These fringe dwellers have so much to offer that you are choosing not to see. They have talents they hide from you, strengths to harness that you never take the time to foster, they think deeply rather than answering quickly; their responses often drowned out by the middle dwellers. You refuse to see them, to genuinely know them, so they shut off from you. The fringe dwellers are often your best thinkers, the funny ones, the imaginative ones, the creative ones, yet your boundless praise does not fall on them.
They don't receive your badges, your awards, they are not recognised. Instead they have to fit in order to stay. To do this, they form what I like to call a 'student shell.' You only see this shell and you are therefore arrogant enough to think they are happy within your walls, when in all honesty they have just given up trying to communicate with you. They use this shell to fit, to attempt to please you, to pose as a middle dweller for the short time that they have left within your walls. Sadly many fail to discard this shell when they leave you, they think this is who they need to be. They leave behind their true selves, thinking what they were was wrong. It is hard to dwell on the fringes, so hard, many choose not to do so any longer. In an essence the sacrifice their true self in order to fit.
The talents they could have offered the world are lost because of a system that chooses not to see them. You my dear system are responsible for that.
There are many good people that work within your walls, fringe dwellers themselves...embrace those people, raise them up, so that they can actively be part of the change. Because you see, not all is lost, there is still time to change. It is my hope that you will let the fringe dwellers change you, that you will see yourself through a different lens and realise that it is time to change, that fringe dwellers become the norm and middle dwellers are freed from their people pleasing constraints. That all souls are allowed to develop as individuals who use their skills to complement a team. Individuals who have so much to offer our world.
It is possible.
It is my hope that in 20 years I am not writing to you on behalf of my grandchildren, or if I am, I am writing instead to commend you on your bravery in changing. Change is hard, but change brings with it huge rewards that you must now embrace.
Yours forever in hope
A Proud Fringe Dweller
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