As I reflect on 2018 and all the moments that have happened this past year, I wanted to take some time and reflect on what I hope to focus on for 2019.
First, I want to say that 2018 has been an extremely rewarding year both personally and professionally. In April of 2018, my sister married her best friend and fiance, and so our family expanded! Their wedding was an emotional, beautiful experience and being as though she is my only sister, it was truly one of the best days of our lives as a family.
In July of 2018 I traveled to Europe by myself and got to explore 6 new countries I had never been to before (England, France, Monaco, Italy, Germany and Netherlands)! Through this experience I learned a lot about myself as an individual, an adult and a traveler. I met people from all over the world and traveling by myself in that way truly made me feel like I could conquer anything I set my mind to.
I also began my 4th year teaching in our dual language program and my 4th year getting to work with my exceptional "work wife," whom I am grateful for always! In 2018 I also became our Dual Language Team's first Team Leader, which has become such an eye-opening experience for myself as an educator. I planned my first field trip, and within that, our first field trip for the K/1st grade dual language classes to a bilingual children's show. I feel grateful to get to work with such strong, amazing educators and privileged that I get to learn from and grow professionally alongside them.
Throughout 2018 I also have such fond memories of getting to know some coworkers (whom I now call friends!) better, and getting to experience these relationships outside of work! As I reflect on these experiences, I feel so appreciative to work in a school and environment with people who are friendly, warm, caring, genuine and truly just amazing individuals.
I also had the chance to travel to Cartagena, Colombia with my best friend, which was a wonderful and riveting experience! We laughed, talked about our friendship throughout the years, met people from all over the world, danced, ate amazing food, and discovered a gem of a city in Cartagena! We are both so busy with our studies and careers but decided that we will be taking a trip every year together and making it our own new best friend tradition! I wonder where 2019 will take us...!
Those were just the highlights and I am ending 2018 with a clearer vision of what lies ahead for me professionally and where I see my career heading. I will continue to expand my business, connect with amazing educators via Instagram and other social media platforms and continue to read about bilingual education (my passion!), keep up on the latest trends and research and continue to do the very best I can for my amazing students and their families.
All of these experiences and new adventures have opened my eyes to more of the world and more of what I hope to accomplish as an educator, a Latina, a young adult and an individual living in this (what often seems) chaotic world! With that, I leave you MY word for 2019 - CHALLENGE. I hope to challenge myself as much as I can in my career as a educator, as an teacherpreneur and as a young adult with a clear vision of what I want to achieve in the near future. I will work hard in 2019 to challenge myself to reach those goals and continue to welcome new experiences and adventures with open arms! Big things are coming and I am so excited for the new challenges ahead! Happy New Year, everyone!
What is YOUR one word for 2019?
