In some ways this has been a long, challenging school year. Covid-19 has made the year a shadow of what is normally expected. That will happen with a global pandemic’s agenda undermining activities, events, and plans usually completed in a school year. Yet here we are at the start of May, with just two months of school left before the year is over. Normally at this time of year, I start thinking about what I’d hoped to accomplish in the year, and reflect on if I’ve met my goals. I also think about what I want to accomplish before the school year is over.
My mind goes to our Grade 12’s, thinking about our grad ceremony, that I want to be special for them despite greater restrictions than what was possible last year. I find myself thinking about our June PAC barbecue that usually comes after grade 8’s spend a day at our school, organized by our students, to help our future grade 9’s learn about what September will be like at our school. Holding this virtually doesn’t give the incoming students the experience we want, and doesn’t give our current students the leadership experience they want and enjoy.
I have never before entered the month of May thinking about what I can’t do, rather that what still needs to be done. No year end field trips, no student organized pot lucks, no gatherings of any kind. It’s hard to look towards the end of the school year without thinking first that it won’t be what I hope it to be, and second that it will be over before we realize it. It’s also hard to think that September will likely be quite similar, with few restrictions being lifted.
I’ve been saying since before the Christmas holidays, ‘Things will start to return to normal by January 2022″. This has given me some solace because I don’t find myself disappointed when the vaccine rollout is slower than I had hoped, or when there are promises of things being normal by September when I know that won’t be happening. The long horizon of waiting for the start of the next calendar year before we see movement towards normal has kept me from holding unrealistic optimism that would surely end in disappointment.
But here at the start of May, the disappointment is hitting me a little. I want to see an exciting year end. Our grad is usually an epic year end annual celebration, student run, with entertainment and performances by our student body. But for the second year in a row this won’t happen the way we wish it could. If I’m honest, I’m starting May without the excitement I normal feel. Normally I would see so much to do ahead and realize the year will be over in the blink of an eye, but this year I’m just hoping to end the year positively. I’m hoping everyone stays healthy, and I’m hoping my expectations for January 2022 come a little sooner than expected.
That’s what friends are for! Take care!
Hey Dave. I totally get the disappointment. We’ve entered a new era. It’s kinda like the disappointment I use to feel when I couldn’t do the same gym routines I use to do without hurting. It took me a while to come to terms with that. Or seeing pictures of my kids when they were small. What great times! But, it’s in the past. I can’t do the same things with them that I use to but I can do different things. Just like my workout routines and most of the things in my life. To continue to wait for ‘normal’ to return someday robs us of today and steals away still more precious time from our present. What, instead l, if we just celebrate what we can? What’s was is exactly that – was. However we look at it, it isn’t now and that is where we really need to focus. Today we get to do so many things. I fear too many people are waiting for a normal that might not return, missing out on so many wonderful “today’s”. What if, instead of waiting for the past to return, we carve out a new today without worrying about an indeterminable future. Do the best we can with what we have right now. The only way our children will feel if they are missing out is if we constantly keep telling them they are missing out. We are sorry for them missing out. Instead let us celebrate what is and the possibilities of their future.
For what it’s worth….
You are so right Kelly. I think by now you know that I’m an optimist at heart, but clearly here I am focussed on the deficits and not the opportunities. I truly value you helping me see through the self-created fog. Thank you!