The Catalyst
This blog is a documentation tool for my life at large – both the personal and professional development aspects.
Why start now? Why not last year, or the year before?
My passion is learning and connecting with people. As such, it has always been my dream to become a teacher. Since high school, I have been strategically curating experiences and qualifications required to get into a PDP program so that I could pursue my dream. Volunteering, community involvement, work experience, co-op experience, university education, cultivating my ‘core’ relationships (immediate family, boyfriend, best friends) and learning to practice self-care have all been critical components of this journey. While checking off all of these boxes, reflection has been low on my list.
Now that I am in the PDP program, I have not simply begun just another year, but a new era. In this new era, reflection is the mantra. Now I get to make sense of it all – figure out who I have become, what I’d like to hold on to and what no longer serves me that I can let go of. Share these experiences. Listen to others. Question assumptions. Make connections. As such, it makes sense to begin closely documenting all of the aspects of my life as a way to pursue understanding my true self. By unraveling the complexities that define me, I can establish a strong rooting of my being for my practice.
2016 is my year – the year in which I will not simply survive, but thrive.
This professional development program is the catalyst for my development this year. While it is only one of the many steps along my journey becoming a teacher, I think it will be one of the most transformative.