A Letter to my Younger Self

Dear (Younger) Kate, 

I am writing to you from seven years in the future ─ seven years after I launched Vega Collegiate Academy.  

You are stepping into this work for all the right reasons. You love kids. You love teaching. And you carry a bold education vision grounded in deeply held values about what public education should be.  

What you don’t know is how much you will have to learn ─ about leadership, about systems, people, and about the unexpected you cannot plan for.  

And that’s okay.
 
They say hindsight is 20/20 so let me share some kernels of wisdom based on hard-earned experience to give you a clear vision along your leadership journey.

Right now, if I asked you to name your job, I’d bet you’d say “educator.” But the truth is, as a charter leader, you are so much more. You will wear 10,000 hats. You might have experience with 100 of those hats, but the rest require you to go way beyond your comfort zone.  

You’re naturally an introvert. But soon you will need to make hundreds of cold calls. Your studio apartment will be transformed into a swag factory. You’ll take all those T-shirts and spend your weekends canvassing neighborhoods. In year one, you’ll be more of an operations leader than an academics expert.  You’ll drive a school bus. You’ll spend as much time worrying about the HVAC system as about the math curriculum.  

I bet if I ask you what success looks like, you’ll talk about outcomes for kids. And guess what? Because of that focus, your results will be exceptional in year one. But you’ll realize that “success” is about so much more than academic results. You’ll discover that you have a responsibility to create broader social change. You’ll discover the dreaded word: politics!   

You probably thought that, as a teacher and leader, you could put your head down and education will stand above all the political dynamics.  

It does not.  

What you will learn is that education does not exist in a vacuum. Soon you’ll be dealing with mayors, with state officials, union leaders, and a whole alphabet soup of interest groups that have an impact on your school’s survival.  

Finally, in the beginning, you personified the school. But as you begin to hire staff and recruit students, the all-powerful leader model doesn’t work. The school is about so much more than you and your leadership style. You have to create a culture that empowers your team to do great work. You will learn to delegate 

Seven years in, Vega is still evolving, and so are you as a leader. The kids and families will still serve as a daily inspiration. And work remains as urgent and important as when you started out.  

So young Kate, while the road will be far bumpier than you expect, it will also be far more beautiful. There will be laughter. There will be tears (but, of course, you already know that we need a good cry every now and then).  

You will witness the power of education to change lives, including your own. So, take a deep breath, trust yourself, and keep showing up with heart, humility, and hope. The work will stretch you, test you, and transform you and, in the end, it will be the greatest honor of your life.

Love,
Kate

Dr. Kathryn Mullins, founding Executive Director of Vega Collegiate Academy, transformed education in northwest Aurora. Beginnning in 2017, she led Vega from a church basement startup to a top-performing school, achieving state-leading academic growth and recognition as a Center of Excellence. Beyond academics, she has built critical support systems for families, fought to protect Vega’s charter, and fostered a thriving workplace with high staff retention. 

Listen to her acceptance speech from the 2025 Hall of Fame ceremony.