Hello and Happy New Year to you! I’m excited to celebrate the arrival of 2021!
Without a doubt 2020 was one crazy year. For many this year brought profound change and new ways to interact. 2020 introduced new terms like “new normal” and “social distancing.” Early on this pandemic reminded me of Toronto during SARS and I wrote about this in a blog post.
Sadly this past year brought many tragedies, but the arrival of better treatments and vaccines gives us hope that can turn the corner. I also think we can be optimistic about looking for growth and new opportunities. I don’t like to use cliches but I think some maxim about “getting after it” might work. We can set goals and work hard for success.
This past year was an emotional rollercoaster. I am lucky to have been more or less ok throughout and I’m grateful to family and friends for keeping in touch. My personal highlight was turning 50 and quitting smoking – I don’t normally have resolutions but I have to keep away from cigarettes this year. So the pandemic had a positive effect on me because I quit ten months ago!
Professional highlights include launching this tutoring website. Canada Tutor was a brainstorm that I could share my thoughts on culture and life and provide meaningful resources to my students. Whether you are studying English in ESL or EAP context, working on essays at university or just want help with communications in general, I can assist.
Some of you may know I work also as a designer and I have some hobbies including photography. Highlights on the creative side included organizing the Tdot Shots photo contest and our photo walks which were a great diversion throughout periods of the pandemic. I find walks and hikes around Toronto very rewarding in all seasons – and having a camera with me really adds to the experience.
In 2021 I want to maintain health and continue to help my students improve their skills and opportunities. I want to explore online education more and may expand my work into e-learning and webinars. It’s also my goal to return to face-to-face tutoring and the college teaching setting but this depends on the rules about interactions in public. I miss the tutoring sessions in the library but the parks are pretty sweet meeting spots too 🙂
What are you hoping to accomplish this year? Do you have resolutions? Hve you set goals?
Drop me a line and let me know! I’ll be happy to chat with you via email or Skype – and hopefully we can meet sometime in the new year.
All the best for 2021!
Mike Simpson
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Related Study Resources
Quotes about “Hard Work” by HubSpot
https://blog.hubspot.com/sales/hard-work-quotes
