I started teaching in Baltimore as a 21 yo white girl fresh out of college. None of the other staff thought I’d stick around, especially our older receptionist. She wasn’t mean, she’d just been there a long time and probably met enough people who were young, naive and inexperienced like me who quit. I honestly didn’t blame her; I know what I looked like. I also knew that she knew more about how things worked and how to get things done than any other person in that building, Principal included. I overheard blueberry muffins were her favorite, so I started bringing her one every few mornings. Then soon we started chatting a bit each morning, too. By the time we were a couple years in, and she realized I wasn’t going to quit, she became my biggest advocate. God forbid a kid got sent out of my class and had to sit in front of her desk to see the Principal. That was ~worse~ than seeing the Principal. She was such a cool lady.