How are you?

If I were face to face with you right now and asked "How are you?" what would you say in reply?  Let's be honest, most of us hear that and just assume it is an in passing greeting and not really a question so we would quickly respond back with "good," "fine," or "okay."  And hopefully all of those responses apply and are true, but can we go a little deeper for a second?

How many of you feel almost as if you are holding your breath?  Are you feeling almost like you are walking on egg shells watching and waiting to see what twist is coming next?  In the brief conversations I have had with some of my students as we work on schedule changes and the start of college stuff, I think this is a really common feeling that most of us are experiencing.  The uncertainty is tough!  Not knowing if we are just going to stay remote learning or if we are going to switch back to hybrid is tough.  Not knowing if we get to come back to hybrid if we will then have to switch back to remote again is tough.  But, here is what I know for sure... you CAN do challenging things!  I have seen it!  I have watched students overcome obstacles far greater than learning remotely or adjusting back and forth between remote and hybrid.  

So I am going to encourage you to exhale!  For real, pause right now and breathe out.  Let some of that tension from your shoulders, jaw, and chest relax out at least for a moment.

Even though there is so much unknown yet to come, I need to remind you that there is a lot that is for sure...

1. Your WKHS teachers want to make this new learning set up work for you.  

2.  It will be different, but different isn't always bad.  (In fact, today was our first ever Common App 101 Workshop and I am so thankful that we were able to do that!  It was great to see students remotely and hopefully all of the attendees got a solid jump start on their Common App.  Seniors, if you didn't attend today's workshop there is one tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday so check your wscloud email and register for one!  But I am giving the workshop as an example, because it is something we had never done before, but now, with the platform of being able to have kids on their own computers and with the extra time when you wouldn't have to miss classes, we were able to do something that we think is important for students and had been on our wish list of things to do in past years.)

3. You can manage this stress.  I am here to help support you as are your teachers and your family.  And, when I ask "How are you?" I really mean it and would like to hear your genuine answer.

4. I believe in you!  You have been through hard times before and have overcome things that weren't going the way you wanted.  You can do that again.  Try to believe in yourself, and if you are struggling to hold onto that hope, please know I will help hold onto it for you.

5.  This will get better.  I don't know what the future holds.  I can't say what we will be doing in 2 months, 2 weeks or even 2 days, but truly, we never actually know that.  So this is a good chance for all of us to try to stay in the moment and focus on today and the areas where we can actually have some influence. (And yes, this is a message for me as much as for any of you because I really, and I mean REALLY, like to try to have control.) But even if it is hard to see right now, it will get better.

6.  I am still here to support you!  Let me know how things are going and remember that you never have to tackle any of these stressors alone.  

Breathe out again... release that tension... I believe that next week once you start getting into the new structure and rhythm of school it will make everything feel at least a little better.