It’s 2020, May 15th to be exact. Ok well it’s 1:03 PM. Let’s be specific. Time and dates seem almost meaningless when you’re in isolation. There is so much uncertainty right now, and it’s exhausting to sit and spin in ones head all day thinking of what the future will bring.
Like most people, we were all not spared some degree of change, anxiety, depression, or outright trauma. Although the transition has been painful and hard to accept, we are living in radically new world. A time that calls for acceptance. Of letting go of the world and lives we held dearly in February.
Each one of us could sit here and write our own lists of what we lost in the change that was brought by Covid-19. But, after dwelling on that list it became apparent that we were far past the grieving stage. What came to my realization. Was not to focus on what I had lost. But instead what I had gained in that transitionary change. To focus on what I still have and the positive actions I still take. For me this has been a valuable time of self-reflection, discarding, and growth.
As an educator, my biggest struggle was the transition to the online classroom. That both student and teachers have yet to really master. Teaching works best in person for students and there is no substitute for the support, and structure, that an educator can provide in the classroom. Somehow my school has adjusted, we shifted expectations and workload, but kept standards high.
For the past three years I have had the joy, privilege, and occasional heart ache, of working in education by serving the Greater Milwaukee Community. Enriching young and old minds a like. In topics ranging from STEM to Print and Design. But before the great change, I have had a nagging for something more.
Education was my chance to build valuable work experience that I missed in college due to life challenges I faced in those years. But the growth that comes from helping others is invaluable and I would not give that back for all the money in the world.
So, in a time of great unemployment and uncertainty; and disappointment of dreams lost. I begin again. It’s not the first time anyone, let alone myself, has had to do this.
Join me as I begin on this journey. To boldly go.