But still I rise...

Monday morning and over 10 weeks of Lockdown with so much and yet so little that has happened. We have all been affected by the pandemic in so many different ways and yet each morning we wake up, we have a choice to feel sorry for ourselves, or be grateful that we are still alive, healthy and hopeful that things will get better.

Our raison d'être is truly being explored by many of us. We have read, learned new skills, exercised, watched TV, eaten too much, imbibed more than usual, learned to really live and interact with our nuclear families, yes, even baked the banana bread ( not even sure why), but for many of us, the future is still unclear.

We see the turmoil in the US and realise that Racism continues to be real and systematic, no matter which eye glass you wear. We see people continue to suffer and die senselessly. We realise that yes, even in the height of fear of the unknown, there are still traps that jump at us from nowhere.

We continue to be rejected for things we do not understand, where we spend endless nights reflecting on WHY and not coming out with an answer. We as educators, still have the burden and responsibility to contribute to future generations, teaching children beyond academics, teaching children to be decent human beings that care, love, respect and empathise with one another.

After so many years on this earth, mankind continues to hurt each other more than anything else, why? Sure with all that has happened, the universe continues to remind us that we as people are just that, human. We can actually live together in harmony. We can relearn behaviour and undo what is unacceptable. There is not need for hate, and definitely no death caused by another.

We have already changed how learning is taking place, but there must be a revival of being human in education, where we are not chasing successful inspections, exam results and university placements but rather how to make children from a young age understand that we might look different but we are all human.

Let us lead today and tomorrow's disruptors and change makers as we aspire to be the best educators and role models we can be. Being an educator is not an easy job and it continues to be our responsibility to ensure that we do right by all those lives we touch on an annual basis.

So no matter what has happened in the past 100 years or 10 days, think of the relevance of Maya Angelou's words when she says, ..'I'll Rise.' We have no choice but to keep on rising.