Goodbye 2019…
Things I accomplished this year
- Gave a d’var Torah about my experiences as a Jew of Color during Friday night services
- Made several presentations about race at:
- WRJ regional conference
- Institute for Southern Jewish Life’s education conference
- Religious school faculty professional development
- Consultation on Conscience
- Made significant strides in my professional career, including:
- Getting elected onto a few of the Society of American Archivists’ section steering committees
- Made a presentation at the Association of Jewish Libraries’ conference
- Attended Consultation on Conscience and Biennial
- Made many new friends and allies
- Started the Jews of Color initiative at Temple
- Selected for Bend The Arc’s Selah Fellowship
Things I accomplished this decade
- Earned two Masters’ degrees
- Started my career in the Jewish communal field
- Promotion to a dream job
- Taught fourth graders on Sundays without quitting (though I came pretty close once)
- Promoted to lead teacher for fourth grade
- Made great strides in my mental health
- Converted to Judaism
- Made several trips outside the country
- Selected for the URJ’s JewV’Nation Jews of Color cohort
- Attended many awesome writing workshops, including the Yale Writers Workshop
Goals for 2020
- Continue making strides in my career
- Be braver
- Indulge myself more in the things I love (reading, writing, etc)
- Make more time for myself
- Stop apologizing for things that are not my fault or were out of my control
- Stand up for myself more
- Speak louder
- Be more patient with Mom
- Begin my third Masters degree program (yeah, yeah, I am a glutton for academic punishment (and student loans))
It’s been a year and decade of ups and downs. There are a lot of things I regret, but there are even more things that happened that I never saw coming, in a good way. There are many exciting things coming in the new year and I’m looking forward to 2020. There are also many uncertainties and frightening things about this coming year, but I hope to take everything in stride and put on a brave front before charging forward.
Happy new year!