Feet on the Ground this Week

 Recently, I listened to a podcast that interviewed a former AA parent, Mark Epstein, MD and CEO of True Health New Mexico. Filled with gems of wisdom from his experience in the medical profession, it struck me that there is so much that I strive to do that overlaps with the medical community's efforts.  Dr. Epstein articulates well the goals we all seem to have, mainly getting our "feet on the ground" in this time of uncertainty. There's suffering because of the volume of noise (in the forms of conflicting and mis-information) and general uncertainty (in the form of maybes) about what's going on here for all of us.  

Full of realism and optimism, he says, "There is reason to freak out!  But we can climb this mountain together."  His wisdom and calm spirit made it clear he walks with his steady feet on the ground and takes satisfaction from keeping his feet on the ground and helping others get their feet on the ground as well.  This is the same message that I try to give my students -- pandemic or no pandemic, math can be really challenging for people, but they can still get their feet on the ground and find fun and success here, too!  

As you may (or may not know), I took a brief leave of absence for the first trimester.  I needed to take care of my own and my family's business; just as the flight attendants say, "Put on your own mask before you assist others," I've needed to practice care for my own before I could serve my students. I needed to get my own feet on the ground.  I'm thankful that the school afforded me this opportunity.

Now, with my feet firmly in place, I'm leaning into the idea of community and relationship building through a black box with a keyboard in front of me.  Community and teamwork are not built through isolation; we need to find new ways to live, survive, and make connections outside the box.  Technology -- or a worksheet in my days' of being a student -- does not attract people to an area of academic study: relationships do.  Learning to build relationships, teamwork, community, and connections is absolutely critical for personal growth and academic progress.  

As we look forward to what's next -- because we must know that we will emerge from these dark boxes in which we currently live -- we know we will be "here" again.  We'll be in a place that's unfamiliar with new rules, regulations, requirements, restrictions, and parameters. But next time, we'll be more ready. We'll be more flexible  We will be more skilled in adjusting to the unknown. We are going to focus on learning more that will give us wisdom to guide us through similar challenges (and yes, learning STEM fields will help.)  Right now, we are building resilience together.  We are building a knowledge that we can do this. Together. 

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