It's Right There

"Everything ends; you just have to figure out a way to push to the finish line."

-Jesse Itzler

Here we are. I am writing this post in an empty building the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Anything could happen in the next 6 days, but right now, we are scheduled to return to school for the final 12 days of the semester. It has been the most difficult semester any of us have ever experienced, but that has been the case for every educator everywhere. In fact, that has been the case for just about everyone in every profession the last few months, so rather than spending time belaboring the point about the stressors we are all facing, I want to spend some time highlighting what I think make us different. 

• We are 12 days away from completing an entire semester of in-person instruction when most people believed doing this for a week was impossible.
• We are 12 days away from giving our students something that less than 10% of students in the state of Illinois have been afforded.
• We are 12 days away from accomplishing something that less than 10% of educators in the state of Illinois can claim to have ever accomplished.

I know that this may seem like little consolation when you are feeling stressed, tired, and overwhelmed, but I encourage you to remember that teachers all across the state are feeling those exact same things without having seen their students faces, without getting to chat with their colleagues in person, without being able to make any of the three statements I listed above. I know that you are exhausted, but please don't lose sight of the fact that you actually have something pretty remarkable to show for it, and not everyone can say that. 

As we prepare for the final push to the finish line for this semester, I encourage you decide whether you will approach these final days as a victim awaiting a merciful ending or as a determined victor roaring like a lion across the finish line. I'm personally planning to do the lion thing.