I have found myself using exclamation points recently. As a general rule, a lot of exclamation points is a bad literary choice, but I think I had a subliminal reason. I was trying to kick-start my energy, my hope.
I am an obnoxiously positive person. I pride myself on it, but the past six months have been doozies. On that, I think we can all agree.
This spring and summer, I was grateful to have time with family, books, music, and a handful of streaming video services. But, I was missing something.
“To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.” – Mark Twain
My esteemed colleague David Griswold recently shared this quote with the faculty. It was an eye opening rediscovery for me.
I needed school up and running. I always do this time of year, but this fall especially, I needed our community back together to get the full value of my joy.
I propose that learning is another experience most fully realized with others.
We learn from and with our friends. Ideas grow from ideas and questions grow from questions. A multitude of experiences and perspectives in the room makes for fertile learning soil. Insatiable curiosity and the care to listen for understanding ensure that we continue to grow. That is nearly impossible to do if we’re alone.
This week, students came back to school, on campus and remotely, and the experience was undeniably different from any September in their, or our, memory. Face masks, air hugs, zoom buddies, and physical distancing are sub optimal. The power of real hugs and visible smiles can’t be overstated.
However, this week we returned to the adventure of learning, together, and I don’t need any exclamation points to express how important that is. The energy that, every year, vibrates through the walls and fills the air is still there. The promise of great questions and new friends is just as true at the opening of this year as ever. School is enthusiastically afoot, and we are back together, in a position to get the full value of our joy.
Welcome back!