My word for 2021 is GROWTH. This word is meant to represent personal and professional improvement, and having a growth mindset. I chose growth partly because it is kind of all encompassing; I still have much to learn and many skills to practice, and picking one seemed restrictive. Teachers always need to be “growing” and improving as professionals, but as a student there just seems to be more to do. I am not where I want to be, but I probably never will be. As a professional and an individual, I have some habits I want to work on, behaviours I want to develop and ones I want to cease. One of the habits I need to cultivate is having a growth mindset. I reflect on my days with little effort, it is easy to analyze what went wrong, but spending time in the discomfort it brings is harder. I need to take time to look for the actual learning that happened, rather than dwell on the failures. I should approach what I learned from a positive angle as well, it is a challenge rather than an inadequacy. Related to positivity, I need to recognize and acknowledge when and how I have grown. I have learned and changed much in the past year, even in the past semester. I have taken steps to where I wanted to go, and I have improved, even if it is not in all areas or the area I think I need to the most. If I do not recognize these improvements when they happen then I feel stagnant and discouraged. So, as a personal challenge to myself that is related to my word I am going to have myself sit in the uncomfortable moments and look for the positives and the growth, as well as the areas that need more attention, more fertilizer if you will.