Week 11 of virtual school. I am half done marking the solutions/solubility test. I hope to have them done and marks updated Monday so I can write report cards. I will email you in Brightspace when I am done. This will likely be my last posting on this website since this week is very busy for me and after this week I will no longer be a TVDSB employee due to my retirement. I am looking at how my website will continue in the future as some sort of pay-per-use private site or I may publish a how-to digital textbook to help future learners--all just ideas right now. It has been a strange, but rewarding year in many ways. I have enjoyed helping you learn. Sorry if I was tough on you, but I only pushed you to attain the potential that I saw. Thank you to all of you who attended the online help sessions--they made my day and helped things still feel normal because I still felt personally connected to you and your learning journey. I got a small ficus tree for a father's day gift and I think it is perfect for retirement as well--it represents both roots and future growth. I am who I am due to my roots at Central, but I am also looking forward to new challenges. Remember, Oreo cookies are the worst cookie, it can be great to have your electrons in an excited state and stability is what stability is. I wish you all the best in your future studies. My real focus has always been on learning; chemistry just helped me achieve that and so use your learning skills to push yourselves to continue to grow and you will be successful in anything you attempt. I will miss you especially next year--it will be strange not seeing a class off to graduation so it seems as if there is unfinished business; like reading a good book but not reading the last chapter. You will have to finish it for me. Here is my last fun thing. This is my grade 9 yearbook picture from 1980 (not in colour--too expensive back then). I attended Arthur District High School (no longer exists) and I picked our school team/club name--the Arthur Avengers. I wrestled throughout high school and won third at Provincials in the 118 pound weight class. I also was a Softball pitcher on the Arthur baseball team and we were Ontario Provincial Softball champions that year. I starting dating my wife in grade 12 (she was there in grade 9 with me, but I did not really know her at the time). We really got to know each other in grade 12 Chemistry (grade 11 for you).
Time goes fast, but good memories remain. Don't over think the past and stop worrying about the future--focus on now. The future you want is yours to create and that happens by making the most of every moment. This takes the stress off being perfect--just be happy and strive to find value in all you do and then you will be the best you that you can be. “Every success story is a tale of constant adaptation, revision and change.” “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humour, some style.” “The greatest gift you can give someone is your time because when you give your time, you are giving a portion of your life that you will never get back.” “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” |
