So 2014 is almost over, we are counting down to the New Year and many are looking forward to an evening of festivities. My first wish for the New Year is that everyone be safe and make it to your destinations safely this evening and in the morning. For those in Florida please learn how to drive on the right side of the road, this isn’t the United Kingdom. It is so tempting to look back and have many regrets for 2014, but we can also look at our accomplishments. For me 2014 was a challenging year for me both personally and professionally and I am glad it is over.
On the personal the highlight (if you want to call it that) of 2014 was that my health has been somewhat of a rollercoaster, one that will probably continue into 2015. But, in 2014 we finally figured out what is wrong. 2015 will hopefully bring a solution. Additionally I was hospitalized twice in 2014 with a few emergency room visits as well. There were some serious scares along the way and many unanswered questions.
2014 also came with some personal victories. We had our 25th anniversary this year that is an accomplishment many people do not achieve. We also celebrated our first year in Florida. Some of the challenge of 2014 included being away from home for close to six months out of the year working in Connecticut.
One of my more significant challenges remains, how to use my doctorate in a way that both generates needed income as well as improves the lives of others. I have to face the reality that my education and opinions may never be valued internally at my current position. It continues to amaze me that people believe outside experts saying the same thing as someone internally but do not acknowledge those internally. So how do I influence adult vocational education from outside my organization? Hopefully 2015 will bring some answers to that.
I had set a number of goals at the end of 2013 for 2014. I was going to write more, I was going to spend time on my blog, I was going to run the Disney Marathon, I was going to compete in a few other races. For some reason or other not many of these goals got done. Not that I purposely ignored them but life issues have a way of getting in the way.
A look back at 2014 professionally brings many accomplishments as well. First, our movement to digital classrooms and course materials at Porter and Chester Institute continued throughout the year. As this was the first full year after the acquisition of YTI Career Institute the year was spent working with the team in Pennsylvania to begin the transition of their material to digital as well. I believe we have done a good job with the transition, but it has not been a year without difficulties as well.
I spent almost six months filling in for an instructor or two in one of our campuses that decided to look for better opportunities elsewhere. This was a significant interruption to the ongoing training surrounding our move to digital books. I was also living out of hotel rooms and flying home every weekend, which meant that a lot of the system stuff that I was supposed to be working on was not getting accomplished. Yes, I believe that it was the right thing to do because it took care of our students but I believe that it did affect the overall quality and speed of our transition to digital.
One really great part of 2014 was that this was the first year that I had zero (0) server failures or database failures. Seriously, this is a major accomplishment. Our infrastructure on the server and hosting side of our instructional technology worked flawlessly. I have had to make several adjustments along the way but I do not have any infrastructure related issues at this time. Additionally the few Learning Management System (LMS) issues that we have had I have been able to work with the Moodle Developers and get resolved quickly.
I was recognized at work for my efforts and long overdue changes were made. I am thankful that I am able to do what I do from Florida and I look forward to enhancing my role in the development of our faculty and instruction.
So, was 2014 a successful year for me? As with anything in life it has it’s positive and negatives. As I look back at 2014 do I have any regrets? Yes. Do I have things I am proud of accomplishing? Yes. Am I glad 2014 is over and 2015 is about to start? Yes.
So, speaking of 2015, what is on the agenda? Starting a New Year should only be positive, so all of my goals are positive in nature.
1. I will take care of myself first and foremost. I am no good to anyone else if I do not take care of my own health and my own well-being. If this means saying, “No” on occasion, so be it. I am going to promote ME with everything I do. I love what I do for a living, but it is ME that is doing it. I know the spirit of things is “there is no “I” in Team, but there is an M and an E. I am an important member of the team and I bring a lot to the table. I am going to look for opportunities to promote MY values and MY vision of education, and create a space for myself.
2. I am currently working on a 90-day weight loss plan. No, not a fad-diet as we know these do not work. I need to get my weight down to 180 and I am trying to do that at 2 pounds a week, which should be doable. I did just complete my first week of calorie counting and I made my 2 pounds. This plan consists of keeping tabs of my calories and exercise. Nothing fancy, nothing to buy, just a lot of common sense. My goal includes some cardio workouts that burn 1500 calories a day. I am going to achieve this, I have to.
3. I will start and finish the Java refresher course that I have wanted to take. I want to see if I can get my Java certification. This opens the door for some additional opportunities.
4. I am going to make a conscious effort to separate my personal and professional time. That does not mean do anything less, or anything to a lesser degree, but that does mean that my work has to be left in my office when I am done for the day or during my planned time away.
5. Email is a distraction. I am going to reduce the amount of time I spend in email. I will better balance my time on Facebook. I will only pay attention to the positives and I will be avoiding the negatives. I would just eliminate Facebook but there have been so many people that I have become virtual friends with that I would sincerely miss. I need to better balance the issues. I have found out that the discouraging things people post makes me really upset and I need to take a different tract. I think one of the things this goal brings out is that I need to look at technology as a tool, not as a “have to use” and in that way I can make myself more efficient.
6. I am going to begin to apply for speaking opportunities at conferences this next year. I passed on a few opportunities this last year upon the request of a prior manager, and I will not pass on opportunities in the future.
7. I am going to dust off my dissertation and revisit some of the research that I accomplished. It is now four years since I did my original research and it is time to visit it and see if something has changed. My research was based on our student population. Has this population changed? Have their feelings towards vocational education? Have their feelings to the classroom and instruction? What has changed? It’s time to look at it again.
8. I am going to look at our move to digital. Is it a success? Is it doing what we wanted it to do? Is it what I had hoped for it to do? What could we have done differently? Are the students really appreciating this change as much as we want to believe they are?
9. I am going to change how I view things in my professional life. I am only going to be concerned about the things I can control. If I cannot control it, affect a positive outcome, or if I know that my contributions are not going to be heard, I am not going to worry about it.
10. I am going to ignore email that really does not need an answer. Move it to the appropriate folder and not reply unless I am specifically asked for feedback.
11. I am going to spend more time with my dogs, they have been dying for attention, and exercise and I have neglected them. In turn this will give me more exercise and outdoor time. I am going to work on re-building my vet fund so that I can participate in LGRA this next year.
12. I am going to get the fence and outside trim of the house painted.
13. I am going to visit the rest of the Florida tracks this next year. There are so many people from Facebook that I want to meet.
14. I am going to spend some time on the beach this year. Hey, everyone accuses me of holding meetings from the beach; I may just do that once just to say I did! Of course I have to skip the daiquiri.
15. I am going to do a training video each month of something important having to do with vocational education. I will aim these videos for our faculty but in the spirit of promoting my skills and myself. I will place these videos and the surrounding material on my blog. I may link these into our LMS, or I may not. The goal is to use the appropriate technology for the appropriate reasons.
16. I am going to try to read a paper book each month, or at least a book loaned to me through our local library.
Not bad, the majority of this list is personal goals but I think they will all help me professionally in the long run. I didn’t meet some of my goals that I set last year so I am trying hard to make them more realistic this year.
Many of us make New Year resolutions (or goals) and the majority of us do not achieve these goals, or fall of the proverbial wagon as the year marches on. Isn’t that the point of this whole thing? To set a road-map for the next year but adjust that map if you can’t meet it.
So everyone, have a safe and Happy New Year and let’s see where we end up 365 days from today!