My #oneword for this year is positivity. One of the most difficult aspects of last year’s practicum was that I felt incapable of sharing good moments with others because it seemed like everyone was focused on the negative. “It’s been a terrible year, I feel disorganized, I feel disconnected, I don’t have any faith in how everything will turn out, I don’t want to be here.” As an empathic learner, I really struggled to interact with people who were going through some of their hardest times. My own positivity felt squashed under a mountain of other peoples’ feelings. I want to be a positive learner. I don’t want to forget all of the terrible things that have happened to people that I love, but I want to use those experiences to build strong responses that propel people forward, not drag them back. We can all claim to be building a growth mindset, but we have to practice what we preach in our day to day lives. It’s a really tough thing to do. Ultimately, I do not want to enter my classroom, look 30 teenagers in the eyes, and say, “Yeah. I’m going to teach you a lesson about versatility and strength but also we are all dead inside so who cares anyway?” I want to model positivity because, when all is said and done, time still moves forward and there is no point in wasting my time dwelling on what didn’t work out. I want to work on what WILL work out. Everything else will catch up. My #oneword is positivity because I feel like working on my own attitude is what will carry me through pandemics, losses, inconveniences, frustrations, tests, and life. Isn’t that what we all want, anyway?

Please enjoy a comic from one of my favourite artists, Nathan Pyle.