By Dr. Annesa Cheek, Former SCTCC President
As a child, I loved the month of January. Fresh off the bounty and rest of the holiday season, I was ready to return to campus to see friends and share stories about the goodies that showed up under all of our trees during our winter break. As an adult, I have come to appreciate January for different personal reasons: resetting, reflecting and renewing.
Like clockwork, when the calendar turns each year, there is an instinctual reaction to want to take stock in what we have seen, done, missed, lost and loved. The “top” lists pepper the television, radio, internet and social media; the “best of” charts roll out in categories we didn’t even think of or really care about; and in memoriam, tributes fill our hearts with thoughts of those who have impacted our broader society in some way. This is generally coupled with a resetting of those to-do lists that got away from us, chasing those pounds that didn’t go away last year, and committing to ourselves to wipe the slate clean and begin anew. This ritual is part cathartic, part tough-love and part optimistic. In total, it brings me back to one of the reasons I love January: HOPE.
The notion of a re-set button that clears the path, at least in our minds, to pursue things differently, in a way that brings us greater satisfaction and fulfilment is attractive. Coupled with a re-dedication to renewal and the promise of a better us – personally and societally – is cause for that hope that makes January worth celebrating. And while we most often don’t realize those things that we set out to achieve in a new year, the fact that we hope, is just as – if not more – important.
I don’t mind telling you that, like so many in our community, I have found these last few years to be extremely challenging, vexing, unpredictable, unsettling, disappointing, fearful, and quite frankly, simply exhausting. With elderly parents and young children, I share the worries of so many about the health of those that I hold most dear to me. As a Black woman with a young son on the cusp of his teen years, I have shared the same angst and fears of so many parents raising Black and Brown boys in our society. As an educator, I have seen the further deterioration of civil discourse and our ability to believe facts, science and data in all facets of our public life, and instead, hunker down into myopic echo chambers that reinforce our own views rather than being exposed to the range of ideas that fuel our minds and our democracy.
Yet, with all of this, I remain optimistic and hopeful, because, to use a hockey reference, I can see beyond where the puck is and I can see where it is going. No, I don’t have a crystal ball tucked away in my office, but I can see the trends that can lead us to a robust and healthy 2022 and beyond. Trends favor the stabilization of the pandemic through healthier communities that believe in public health expertise over politics. Trends show great promise in bringing about social and economic justice in organizations that fully embrace equity, diversity, inclusiveness and belonging, and commit to being antiracist. And the trends show the progress and prosperity of local economies that leverage and embrace higher education to create a skilled workforce to meet the human talent needs of employers. My hope and optimism for this new year lies in the belief that at the core of these trends, St. Cloud Technical & Community College (SCTCC) is playing a critical role in influencing and leading our region to its next chapter.
That’s why SCTCC has embarked on executing its new strategic plan, focused efforts on refining the craft of education through our new Center for Teaching and Learning, and made progress toward opening a new Advanced Manufacturing Training Center to engage our employers and students in partnerships and learning experiences that satisfy high-demand, local job needs. It is also why our College continues to meet students where they are – academically, professionally, economically, socially, and physically – and support the broader needs of those who walk our hallways, visit our offices and fill our classrooms. I continue to be immensely proud of the way our SCTCC community constantly finds and makes ways to fill unmet needs for our students, including through serving those with food insecurity at our expanding campus food pantry, the collection of services offered to those who need critical mental health services during anguishing and uncertain times, and the diverse programming and engagement opportunities that will be available through our new Multicultural Center. I continue to be immensely proud of the way our SCTCC community is responsive to community needs, as we were in answering the State’s call to provide emergency Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) training for 53 individuals (32 of which were National Guard) for service in under-staffed health care centers and to assist with long-term care needs around the state, and in developing a new certificate for early childhood education to meet the urgent need for enhanced quality and increased access to this critical community service. All of this authentic work makes SCTCC vital as it creates a place of belonging for our students and further reinforces our equity and inclusion values that we embrace and promote.
So, as we find ourselves tucked away from the winter elements, advancing through short days that turn into long nights, let’s use this time, this month of transition, to feed our optimism and starve our cynicism. We will be better for it and so will our community.
Happy New Year!