Category: Celebration

Commencement Speech

Attending the conferring ceremonies at MTU last week was wonderful. It was great to see proud families and delighted students. 

Completing the week of celebration was a ceremony for the class of 2020.  I was part of this class and had watched my graduation in October 2020, on my laptop, sitting at home, wearing my slippers. 

On Saturday, I got my chance to wear cap, gown and shoes!

In America, these occasions are often marked by a commencement speech.  A speech which usually offers congratulations and guidance to graduates as they commence life after college.

Taylor Swift received an honorary doctorate from New York University this month and delivered the commencement speech there.

Taylor’s credentials as an accomplished writer are well established so I use some of her words below to sum up the gratitude, hard work and potential of graduation.

Taylor described the support networks that helped graduates get to the finish line as a “patchwork quilt of those who have loved us, those who have believed in our futures”.

She acknowledged the challenge of getting through studies during a global pandemic with humour, “Everyone in college during normal times stresses about test scores, but on top of that you also had to pass like a thousand COVID tests.”

As a lecturer, I see the peer pressure in under-graduate classes. It resonated with me when she spoke about pretending to not care in order to appear cool.  Showing ambition or enthusiasm for study is positive and shows a good example to others.  It’s a shame if there is pressure to hide this in order to fit in.

“It seems to me that there is a false stigma around eagerness in our culture of ‘unbothered ambivalence.’ This outlook perpetuates the idea that it’s not cool to ‘want it’.”

“Effortlessness is a myth. The people who wanted it the least were the ones I wanted to date and be friends with in high school. The people who want it most are the people I now hire to work for my company.” 

Getting a degree requires effort and hard work.  Congratulations to the classes of 2020 and 2021, enjoy the reward of your years of effort.  I look forward to keeping in touch and wish you well as you commence your next steps.  I leave you with wisdom from Dr. Taylor Swift.

“Just be yourself. There is no one better.”

Success Jar

I have been teaching two 4th year modules this semester.  Part of the assignment for both included students making a short presentation in front of class-mates.  Many of these fourth year students hadn’t done anything like this for 2 years and they were nervous.

However, they did it! 

I was really pleased for them.  There were different standards in the presentations and some felt they could have done better.  I told them to focus on being proud of themselves for having had the courage to stand and deliver!

I suggested they create a success jar or open a success notebook to record their achievement.  I started using a success jar in January this year.  A number of years ago, I created an email folder for any compliments or praise I received by email.  These are useful resources to have to read over in advance of an important meeting or before going to a job interview or even to provide a boost if your energy is low.

Writing this prompted me to review the notes I’ve added to my own success jar.  Year to date, I have 24 successes spread across 99 days.  This equates to a success almost every 4 days.  Many are small things that I might easily have forgotten but I got a lift as I read over them.

Invest in a success jar, you’ll be happy with the return!

A Happy Meal

Have you heard the advice: “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade“?

It’s advice to seek out the positive in a negative circumstance.

Throughout the pandemic, we have had lots of encouraging examples of this in practice, situations where individuals and businesses have used innovation to turn challenging events into opportunities.

Here’s a smaller scale example but it’s close to my heart.

My young nephew celebrated his birthday recently. His wish for his birthday was that he and his family would go to ‘Old McDonalds‘. He likes to eat burgers and was curious as to where they keep all the noisy farm animals.

Unfortunately before the birthday, Covid paid a visit so going anywhere to eat burgers or suss out farm animals was off limits.

My nephew was disappointed but his innovative and talented mum was at least able to deliver on the burger front.  What you see in the photo is the birthday cake!

Burger for main course and dessert anyone?

Happy New Year

At this time of year, we think about setting goals for next year.  I don’t usually set specific resolutions and instead choose a word that is my guide for the year.  I wrote a blog about this strategy last year.  You can read that here.

My word for 2021 was Creativity. 

I started the year doing some sewing but as the year progressed, I did more writing and some art related projects (including attempting to draw cartoons).  In the latter part of the year, I became a more creative cook (although still not a very good one)!

Another aspect, perhaps the most important, involved being more creative in my thinking.  Specifically, I tried to look at challenges differently, I tried to see alternative ways that I could approach my daily life and I sought inspiration from different sources.

I’m delighted with what I achieved.  From starting a regular blogging habit, to creating a website, to designing a newsletter, to tapping into different reading material and new contacts for advice and encouragement. 

Looking forward my word for 2022 is Belief. 

I intend nurturing my self-belief, encouraging others to rise above self-doubt to believe in themselves and above all, I will hold the belief that anything is possible.

This time last year, I didn’t think that in 12 months I would have a website and almost 50 subscribers to my newsletter, which is called “Belief Building”.  

But I have a website and with an additional 10 subscribers, I will hit my target number of subscribers for 2021. 

This is a link to a sample newsletter which is hosted on my website. Future newsletters will be delivered by email and  I intend to create one per month in 2022. Each will offer an inspirational story about someone who achieved something that may have seemed impossible, some advice on maintaining motivation and some quotes from encouraging people.

If you know anyone who would like to join me in Belief Building in 2022, please feel free to share this link to subscribe.

Happy New Belief Building!

Feature Image Credit: Wout Vanacker via Unsplash

Graduation

I am graduating this week but I wasn’t going to tell anyone about it. I wasn’t going to bother tuning into my virtual conferring. I wasn’t going to share the link to the online ceremony with family and friends. As I’ve had 2 conferrings previously, (admittedly they were over 25 years ago), I felt this time wasn’t such a big deal. 

I thought the online event would be an appropriate substitute for anyone graduating for the first time and that they should rightly be honoured and congratulated. But given that my new Masters is in Teaching & Learning and I work in academia, I didn’t think it needed any fanfare. I felt too busy to watch a virtual event. I am online all day, why would I add to my list of things to watch on a screen?

The more I thought about this, the more I realised I was wrong. In our current challenging times, we should take every opportunity we can to celebrate success and good news. If I were talking to someone else being conferred this week, I would be advising them to make sure to tune into their virtual ceremony and mark the occasion of their graduation in some way. 

I have decided to take this advice myself. 

But how can I celebrate or mark the occasion given that all the usual ways we celebrate are off limits for now? 

Then like a lightbulb of inspiration, I thought I’ll write a blog about it! (Because I like writing, – top tip by the way, it’s good to like writing if you decide to do a Masters). So I have given myself the gift of the time to think about my Masters journey and allowed myself the chance to write about what this celebration means to me.

I have often been present at graduation ceremonies when my former students were being conferred. I always feel very happy for the students and proud that I have been part of their progress. 

Hopefully, things will be no different for me. If you are a student I once taught and you’re reading this, then I hope that you might feel proud of the contribution you have made to my journey. 

When I started lecturing first, I was blown away by the dedication of mature students taking courses by night. After a full day at work, these students came to college from 6pm to 10pm, 2 or 3 nights a week. They were engaged and hardworking. I have met many of them since (including at conferring ceremonies) and none of them regret their efforts. These students helped me realise that it was possible to have a full time job and study if you were dedicated and interested enough.

Other students who came straight from secondary school conveyed to me their wonder and enthusiasm for their course. They were excited about what the future might hold for them. I am still in touch with many of these students and I’m delighted to see their developing careers. These students further nudged my curiosity towards undertaking fresh studies.

As I progressed through modules related to teaching practice, curriculum design, assessment, teaching with technology and many others, the students gave me motivation, encouragement and feedback. Last semester, first year students contributed to the research I was conducting for my final Masters paper. I am very grateful to them. Hopefully, they learnt as much from me as I did from them.

When I started this journey, many people asked me why I was doing another Masters. They wondered was it a lot of work and did I really need to do it? Well it was a lot of work and no I didn’t need to do it. However, if I draw upon a concept from my previous field of study (economics), the benefits have far outweighed the costs. 

Learning how to use technology to create an interactive quiz was challenging, but it means I now have the ability to create engaging resources in my teaching. Drafting and re-drafting essays felt torturous but with every iteration my writing and output improved. My ability to reflect and have a 360-degree view of something has made massive advances. Overall, the content I learnt is excellent, giving me an insight into best practice in all areas of Teaching and Learning. However, I have gained the most through the experience of being a student again.  The process of inquiry, asking questions, evaluating answers and reflecting has been transformative. If you are frustrated by public health restrictions and missing some of your regular hobbies, undertaking a new course may just be one of the best decisions you make!

I can’t finish this blog without mentioning my own class-mates who were great company on this academic journey. When I say I laughed and I cried with them, that is no exaggeration! I want to congratulate my fellow graduates in the class of 2020 and wish everyone still studying towards their qualification, the greatest of success.

I owe a massive thank you to my family who have supported me through late nights, early mornings, despair and elation.

My final word of thanks is to my own lecturers. Each one of them was supportive and encouraging but my supervisor, (also the overall course coordinator) was a great source of inspiration. He epitomises all that is brilliant in academia and I will be forever grateful for his mentorship and support.

So class of 2020, whether it’s writing a blog, taking a photograph, drawing a picture, listening to a song or whatever it is you like to do, allow yourself some time to celebrate your success and take pride in your achievement! And if you’re trying to contact me tomorrow afternoon, I will be busy watching a screen and allowing myself to reflect on my hard work and accomplishment.

Feature Image Credit: Leon Wu via Unsplash