The recently proposed school administration reforms concentrate largely on the issues surrounding recruiting, selecting, and preparing potential administrators; yet little is know about what it is like to become a school administrator, and virtually no research on beginning administrators has been done. Related literature does describe the uncertainty, stress, responsibilty, and conflicts experienced by principals during their first years on the job. In April and May 1989, 7 of 8 first- and second-year East Tennessee principals (7 female and 1 male, and 5 white and 3 black) were interviewed and observed; the eighth principal was interviewed in June 1989, and observed the following October. An analysis of collected data identified six recurring themes: the heavy weight of responsibility; the conflicting demands; the uncertainty; and the steady stream of human interactions. The findings of this study support existing principalship literature with few exceptions. Even in their first 2 years on the job, these principals had encountered most of the problems reported by their more experienced peers. Some differences, though, were evident. The problem of time constraints pervaded this study, but did not emerge as an issue in the literature. Powerlessness, however, occurred in the literature, but did not surface in this study. (12 references) (KM)