"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards."
Soren Kierkegaard
Hello API Job Corps Centers,
Today’s topic is about a Job Corps initiative that you will see around Center. It is called “Better Together” and speaks to what we need to do to continue to stay healthy, keep our center open, and serve our students. Please do your part to encourage others and hold everyone on campus accountable to follow the center’s health safety protocols. Please take care of yourself physically and mentally, and let others know if you need support. If we all do our small part, everyone on our campuses can continue to thrive.
There is another part of Better Together I would like to introduce. For our API centers, bringing our students back is a new beginning. What was not working before, we can fix; what we were confused about, we can learn; what we thought were big deals, we learned were not. There are many COVID lessons we should not forget to ensure we become Better Together and improve our culture every day.
Be grateful for your life and your health. We are fortunate that we get to work in a job that has meaning. Many people spend eight hours a day doing things that do not change young people’s lives the way we do. Take a moment and savor your job and the fact that you woke up this morning to be able to do it.
Communicate in new ways. We have all experienced loss in this pandemic, and we may never know what someone else has gone through. Be kind and treat each other with tenderness.
Check In. Take a few moments to ask your fellow students and colleagues, “How are you doing? Did you have a good weekend? Is there anything I can help you with?” We all need to know we are seen and heard, and our Check Ins can help make that happen.
Look forward to each day. As Kierkegaard says, …”life must be lived forward.” Each day is a new start, and we control how it unfolds.
Plan your outcomes. Visualize each day what you would like to accomplish, how you would like to be treated, and how you would like to treat others. Your intentions can help make your hopes a reality (good or bad).
Talk it out. If you are having a rough day or experience something that is troubling you, find a trusted person to lean on. Your Center Director has the skills to support you and make sure you get what you need to get through tough times.
We are Better Together, and we know that the new normal is on the horizon. I trust in you and am honored to work with you. Stay safe.
One more thing...do one kind thing today to someone on campus…just one. It will make a difference.
Dr. Wild