I saw this #myfives on Twitter and I thought what better than for my first post in five months and my first post of 2019 to be about my top five moments of 2018. These are not all successes and not in any order.
WASC
WASC is a lot of work.
Grant Renewal
Nothing like in the middle of your WASC visit finding out your grant renewal is due in six weeks. And not like there’s any pressure writing a grant. Do a good job and your school gets 1.5 million dollars. Don’t do a good job and your school doesn’t get 1.5 million dollars and 2200 students don’t have access to after school programs. #nopressure
#Failing
Because of the above two, I pretty much failed at my regular day job duties every day for the first semester. And this was not the “fail until you don’t” or “fail forward” type of failing. This was flat out just not getting it done. Not meeting the standard. Lots of room for growth. For the first six weeks of school it was, “Sure, after WASC.” Then it was “Sure, after the grant gets written.” I messed a bunch of stuff up. I didn’t get a bunch of stuff done. But you know what? Everything was fine. I think. I think everything was fine, but since I was #failing most days I can’t really be sure. But, I made it to January, so I am considering that #winning.
Mountain Biking
Technically I did no mountain biking in 2018, but the work I did in 2018 with my Peloton app and Weight Watchers led to me being able to mountain bike for the first time in seven and half years. This was a sport that I did daily before I had my back surgery and which I was willing to give up to be able to walk again without pain. But now that I can mountain bike again…I can’t even explain. It’s like meeting an old friend. I am so happy.
Podcasts
Later in 2018 I decided I should try to get smarter by listening to podcasts. I’m not sure I’m getting smarter, but I am getting a lot of ideas and enjoying it. One of my favorites is Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend in which Conan O’Brien, whom I love, talks to different comics. I think what I like most is they discuss the craft of being a comic. Being a comic is much like being a teacher and a recent trip to the Comedy Store in Los Angeles only drove home that point home for me, In the latest episode, Dana Carvey talks about all of the work that goes into “a bit” and he says if he does his job right everyone thinks that he is just up there having a good time. I immediately thought of teaching. If I do my job right, it’s seamless. It makes sense. It’s fluid and has a logical sequence. It’s satisfying to hear that someone as successful as Dana Carvey validate that making it look easy is hard work.
Look at me! I wanted to post this by the end of January and I have. #winning!