May is perhaps the craziest month in academia. It generally culminates with commencement, which makes it all worth it. There is no better feeling than watching students achieve their dreams. Most will go on to achieve more degrees and success in their careers. For now, the sense of accomplishment that comes with the realization that they persisted to the end, that they proved to themselves that they could do it, is palpable. The children, parents, family, and loved ones who supported graduates to that moment also share in the joy. Commencement is always special.
June is our strategic month at the college. We are intentionally pausing to focus on strategic priorities, calibrate, collectively breathe, and chart our course for the next academic year. I also plan on spending time with members of our executive team and the extended leadership team, getting to know them on a personal level. With an adjusted rhythm and more time for reflection and fun, we will build on what we do well and extract lessons from recent failures.
Personally, I am looking forward to evenings of reading outside. Spring recently became my favorite season. Historically, I would want spring to fast forward so that we could get to summer when it is really warm. However, this year, I have experienced spring blossoms, the transition from barren trees to the lush green panorama on the highway, and the sprouting of plants hibernating underground in the winter in a whole different way. Maybe it’s because winter is now more bearable with global warming. Whatever the reason, spring is now my favorite season, although I still look forward to the colorful spectacle of fall.
Besides reading outdoors, I have a list of things I long for this summer:
- Enjoying peaches. Mother Nature robbed us of peaches in the northeast last year. Some farmer friends introduced me to white peaches a few years ago and I have been hooked. There is nothing like farm-fresh peaches.
- Tubing. Last year, the rains made going tubing down the local rivers unsafe. I look forward to lazy Sundays on the river.
- White water rafting. Despite having lots of rafting tours nearby, I have never tried it. I plan on a guided rafting tour with our family this year.
- Bike riding. A decade ago, I learned how to ride a bike. As we now live near a trail, I plan on doing more of that this summer.
- Time with family, friends, girlfriends especially.
- Our daughter’s quinceañera. We’ll have family and friends celebrating her passage to womanhood. It will be an awesome multicultural and multigenerational event.
- Volunteering. As a family, we pick causes to which we devote our time and energy, sometimes together and sometimes separately. As the kids get older, I tend to favor activities we can do together. We’ll see what they choose…
- Lobster. My favorite crustacean! I already have a couple of trips to Moore Lobster on deck for sweet buttery lobster.
I will continue to enjoy the spring until summer makes its debut. I hope you all have a restorative summer.
