Landing A Place At The College Of Your Dreams!

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“The higher education landscape is significantly different than what it was years ago. In addition to become more costly, it has also become much more competitive. As such, college prospects must make themselves as competitive as possible. “

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A key focus of my blog is General Education. The higher education landscape is significantly different than what it was years ago. In addition to become more costly, it has also become much more competitive. As such, college prospects must make themselves as competitive as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, Landing A Place At The College Of Your Dreams!

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Getting into college may seem like a monumental process when you begin, but a place in the intuition of your dreams is within your grasp. College doesn’t have to be unattainable and your college search is just the beginning to figuring out what the best options are for your study and your future. College is something you can have if you want it and we’ve got you covered for all you need to know. There are even some things you can do, in particular, that will help make the application process easier and more effective, and make landing that place much more likely. Keep reading to find out what they are.

Getting into college may seem like a monumental process when you begin, but a place in the intuition of your dreams is within your grasp. There are even some things you can do, in particular, that will help make the application process easier and more effective, and make landing that place much more likely. Keep reading to find out what they are.

Maintain a high GPA in high school

Yes, that’s right; no one gets into their dream college without maintaining a high GPA throughout all four years of high school. You will find that students that meet these criteria will be among the first that colleges consider.

Of course, this means consistently hard work, although there are some things you can do to help maximize your chances of keeping your grades up. The first is to embrace organization, yes that’s right if you know what classes you need to be at, and what homework is due when you are much more likely to be able to stay on top of things.

Additionally, picking a high school that provides students with a customized learning pathway, tailored to their strengths and needs can make all the difference when it comes to keeping grades high. The good news is that many charter schools now offer the opportunity to follow a customized learning path online. Something that means you can get the optimum K12 school science from the comfort of your very own home, even during the pandemic.

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Understand the application process

Next, if you want to max out your chances of getting into the college you want, you must make an effort to grasp the ins and outs of the application process.

For example, most students don’t realize that many colleges will take either an SAT or an ACT score. Therefore you can take both tests and then only use the one in which you did the best, thus increasing your chance of being accepted.

Create a brag sheet to help teachers make recommendations for you

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Finally, it is essential to remember that teachers and other recommendations can go a long way when it comes to securing a place in your dream college. Unfortunately, educational staff will be asked to complete many recommendations over the application period, which means they might not always have a good handle on what makes you stand out among the best and brightest in your year.

The good news is that you can make it easy for them to remember all your best qualities by creating a brag sheet and distributing this along with your request for a recommendation. The great thing about using this tactic is that you not only will ensure all your personal qualities are covered, but it makes writing a recommendation faster and easier for the staff to which you give it.

Consequently, your recommendation is likely to be more positive, and on time too, because it is less of a chore for the staff member to complete. It’s a win-win for everyone involved and could just tip the scales in your favour and get you a place at your coveted dream college.

Why Should Every Adult Learn About Tax Returns

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and General Education. While it’s typically covered in many K-12 education core curricula, some adults still don’t understand the purpose of taxes, how they’re raised and how they’re abused by government officials. It’s a topic that every adult should have knowledge of. The following contributed post is entitled, Why Should Every Adult Learn About Tax Returns.

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In my eyes, every adult should learn about tax returns. Ideally, this should begin when you’re a child – or at least when you’re in high school. It sounds like a boring topic, but tax is one of the most important parts of your adult life. Whether you own a business or not, you will pay tax. It is basically how the government gets the money to fund different projects in various communities. As much as people despise paying taxes, it’s a necessity for a successful country.

If you know nothing about tax returns, it’s well worth learning something new. To convince you that this is worthwhile, here’s why every adult should know something about tax returns:

Understand where your money goes

Learning about taxes helps you understand where your money goes. In essence, it teaches you why you have to pay a tax return. For small business owners and the self-employed, tax season is always a bummer. It can feel like you’re parting with hard-earned wages for no reason at all. By learning the ins and outs of taxes, it provides more context to the situation. You may still be irritated by paying your taxes, but at least you understand where the money goes and how it might benefit you in the future.

Pay the right amount

Similarly, gaining knowledge of tax returns allows you to pay the right amount. You will often fall on either side of the spectrum if you don’t know anything about tax returns. Some people pay far too much; others pay too little. If you pay too much, you basically do yourself an injustice as you could’ve held onto some money. Again, suppose you’re self-employed or running a business. In that case, this can be the difference between making a profit and breaking even. Obviously, paying too little is wrong as you can be hit with fines and criminal charges. By understanding tax returns, you will always pay as much as required.

Forge out a new career

Tax returns are an essential part of the world, and loads of people file them. As this entire article suggests, hardly anyone actually understands tax returns. Therefore, your knowledge could help you forge a new career. Take an online course to earn a tax preparer certification, and you can suddenly carry out tax returns for different people and businesses. This service is in demand, meaning you can earn a lot of money. It’s something you can do alongside your current job or as a career in its own right. Don’t just assume that learning about something is good from a personal development standpoint. It can also give you a leg up in life that leads you to more success.

In conclusion, learning about tax returns can be highly beneficial. It’s something all adults should do, and it should form part of an educational program geared towards money management. If I were in charge of education in this country, that would certainly be something I’d push forward. People grow up with pointless knowledge of things they never need in life. Instead, let’s teach people about crucial things like taxes, savings, and so on.

What Can You do to Improve Your Vocabulary?

A key focus of my blog is General Education. No matter which sector you’re in, your vocabulary is absolutely critical. It will open and close doors for you, and it will shape people’s view of you. The following contributed post is entitled, What Can You do to Improve Your Vocabulary?

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Having a strong vocabulary can put you at an advantage in several ways. It’s not all about sounding clever and confusing people with words that they don’t know. When you have a large vocabulary, you also have the knowledge behind the words. You can talk to people about different topics and understand a range of contexts. A larger vocabulary can also make you a good speaker and a good writer, not just by giving you big words to use but by helping you understand when it’s appropriate to use which words. If you want to expand your vocabulary, take a look at these ideas to do so.

Use a Dictionary and Thesaurus

Having a dictionary and thesaurus on hand can be really handy when you want to improve your vocabulary. You can look up words whenever you want, to find out what they mean or to find synonyms. Of course, it’s now much easier to carry a dictionary and thesaurus everywhere you go. You can have an app on your phone or find a website to use whenever you want to look up a word. And if you’re particularly dedicated to expanding your vocabulary, you can even read a dictionary or thesaurus for fun.

Challenge Yourself

Setting yourself word-related challenges can help you to learn more words. There are lots of different games you can play and ways you can challenge yourself. When you have a phone or tablet, you can take word games with you wherever you go. And if you want to cheat a little, you can also get Wordscapes answers and answers for a range of other mobile games. When you challenge yourself, you can find that you’ll push yourself more to learn new things. Compete with your friends or other people, and you will want to improve so that you can beat them.

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Expand Your Horizons

You don’t necessarily have to focus on learning words to pick up new vocabulary. You can learn new words by reading, watching and listening to new things. You’re especially likely to learn new words if you explore topics that you’re not familiar with or enjoy things from different eras or countries. When you expand your horizons and open your mind to new things, you’re sure to come across new words to add to your vocabulary. Speak to new people too, and you could pick up new words from them.

Put New Words Into Use

Having a wide vocabulary isn’t much use if you never use it. Putting the words that you learn into use will help to cement them in your vocabulary. Whether you use them when you’re writing or employ them when you’re talking, it will give you the chance to show off what you’ve learned. However, it’s also important to know when to use new words. If it’s something obscure that most people won’t know, you could end up just having to reword what you’re saying so that people understand.

If you want to improve your vocabulary, you can work on it in a number of ways. Your improved vocabulary could even help you to find new opportunities in life.

Applying to Colleges

A key focus of my blog is General Education. For those high school students who are aspiring to go off to college, it can be one of their biggest life decisions. There are a couple of factors to consider when applying to colleges. The following sponsored post is entitled, Applying to Colleges.

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The final year of high school has arrived or you are looking to begin a new career path. There are many steps for you to accomplish before you get your acceptance letter from the college of your choice. Here are a few to consider as you get started.

Look Into Your Grades

Contact your guidance counselor and ask for a copy of your transcript. If you have taken a standardized test, such as the PSAT, ACT, or SAT, find out the scores for those as well. You will need this information as you are looking into the colleges you are interested in. Many of these institutions require that you have a minimum grade point average to enroll. They will also ask for this data when you apply. However, they will only accept it from your high school or the testing corporation.

Evaluate Schools

Determine what you want to do after college and research schools that offer the majors required to accomplish this. If you are considering a position in the medical field, learn more about health degrees offered by these institutions and if they will help you get the job you want in the future. You should thoroughly investigate which college is best for you if you are looking for more traditional degrees as well. Set up a time to tour the campus and speak to an admissions counselor to get more information. However, with the precautions put into place with the Covid-19 virus, this might be done over the phone or by video chat.

Narrow Your Choices

Develop personal criteria along with the course of study that you plan to take to shorten the list of schools you have an interest in. This can include the cost to attend there, the scholarships that they offer, extracurricular activities that they may have, the number of students in the classroom, how far it is from your home, and other options. This should narrow down your selections to a manageable number to send your applications to.

Ask Your Current Instructors For Their Recommendation

When you send in your applications for admission, you will have to send in letters of recommendation from a few of your teachers as well. Consider ones that instruct classes that are similar to the major you plan to take or ones that you have a good rapport with. Ask for a time to meet with the teachers that you have chosen and make your request. You will need to provide an email or physical address to send the letter to. You might want to follow up with either the college or the instructor to ensure that they have been sent.

Write Your Essay

Many colleges and universities require that you submit an essay with your application. This document is normally a few hundred words about yourself. It gives the institution insight into how well you can write and what type of student you are. Start constructing this early in your senior year and ask others to edit it before you send it to the schools that you are interested in.

Why History Can Reshape And Politics

Two key focuses of my blog are Current Events and General Education. History is a core course in many curricula. It’s not always taken seriously, but it has the ability shape minds and the perceptions of whole populations of people. The following contributed post is entitled, Why History Can Reshape And Politics.

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History itself, written from the stories of towns, people and written into books, helps form new views and changes within communities and within people. We tend to separate history into oral and written. The first usually narrates the actions of invisible men, while the second tends to narrate the clichés of prominent men in order not to be forgotten. The muse of history is considered to be Klio, daughter of Zeus and Memorial. Its name comes from the ancient Greek verb close, which means I narrate or make something known. According to Nietzsche, from the birth of Christ, the zero point of history, history as the truth of human life was detached from its essential character, fell into a linear record of events regardless of the unfolding of life, but also of the future of man. Life began to degenerate, from the moment people stopped associating history with life and vital action. The famous German thinker is by no means against history, on the contrary he argues that historical knowledge is valuable, as long as we know how to use it, so that it serves life and offers outlets to promote its security.

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The Mayor of Irvington NJ has learned all too well some incredible political lessons from both history and D. Bilal Beasley who taught him the possibility of change. So why do we learn so much from history and from books when these experiences have not directly affected us ourselves? Well, that is because that we do learn from other people’s mistakes and not always from our own, because of the effect it may have on us indirectly. This is seen throughout black history.

Philosophers argue that humans, unlike prehistoric animals, can not learn to forget, since their past experiences follow them every step of the way and often act as an obstacle to their subsequent evolution. To define the limits within which the oblivion of the past occurs, we must avoid making history the undertaker of the present, we must know exactly how great is the plastic power of an individual or a people, a power that helps him to transformed by incorporating the past and the foreign, replacing the lost, and reshaping from within the broken forms. In this way, the ahistorical and the historical are considered equally necessary for the “hygiene of life” of an individual, a people and a culture.

Undoubtedly, our age is superior in terms of knowledge of the past. Psychoanalysis itself has highlighted both individually and collectively the need to study the past, as it provides us with a measure of the speed and dynamics of our own movement. In the psychoanalytic process the subject is historicized, he writes his own history, he subscribes to the present conversing with his past in view of the future. If we think about it, culture is nothing more than transforming involuntary and instinctive action into possibility, after all. So yes we do learn from our history books, our choices and those around us, but the more we read, the more we immerse ourselves into possible change.

How To Gain A Career In Special Education Teaching

Two of the focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and General Education. In important part of the education sector is Special Education. There will always be a need for Special Education teachers and their valuable skills. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Gain A Career In Special Education Teaching.

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Special education teachers play an essential role in the education system. They help and support children with a wide variety of different mental and physical needs to ensure that they get the maximum benefit from their education.

Special education teachers support children with differing needs including dyslexia, hearing and visual impairments, autism, and emotional disturbance. It can be a very challenging role, however, if you are interested in this career, it can also be very rewarding in many respects.

This type of teacher can often be found in the classroom supporting children on a one-to-one basis, however, they may sometimes teach whole classes.

In this article, we’ll discuss the role of a special education teacher and how you can get a career in this area.

What Skills Are Required

First and foremost, when looking for a career as a special educator you will need to demonstrate excellent communication skills. This is so that educators are able to interact effectively with students, parents, and other educators. Being able to communicate with students with very specific needs is essential. That means that they must be patient listeners who are able to get the message across as required.

In addition to communication skills, you will also need good IT skills and the ability to keep accurate records of each and every student’s progress. Technology will also come into play when it comes to helping students access the technology required within their education as well as any study support aids that they may need.

You will need to have a good understanding of the specific special needs of the students that you are teaching. Knowing specifically how to communicate in a positive way can be learned, but having the patience to deliver education in this way takes the right personal skills.

For teachers working with hearing impaired, they will need to know how to communicate using sign language.

Above all else, special education teachers need to have a positive and encouraging demeanor. They need to be creative thinkers with flexibility and the ability to motivate and inspire all of their students while helping build confidence and encourage learning. They also need to be resilient. There may be times when teaching special needs students can be challenging.

What Training Will Be Required

The type of qualifications will vary depending on where you are applying to become a special education teacher. In the United States, special educators are required to hold a license in addition to their qualifications.

You will need to at least have a bachelor’s level degree in special education in order to be considered for licensing. You may need a master’s degree in some areas.

In addition to a degree, you may need a qualification such as Dyslexia Professional Development and Dyslexia Training or other specific additional courses relating to a certain aspect of special needs education. This might be additional training delivering education to visually impaired students, or managing and teaching students with behavioral issues.

Because there are always developments in this field, training is often ongoing and you may be encouraged to keep engaging in your personal and professional development throughout your career. This may mean regular training days, or it could mean taking a part-time course alongside your work.

What Are The Alternative Career Options?

If the classroom setting is not for you, there are other options for helping others while making use of the skills and qualifications that you might have gained for working in the special education sector.

Because the special educator role can be very mentally and physically demanding, it is not uncommon for people to change lanes in their careers as they progress so that they can continue putting their hard-earned skills to good use in a different setting.

The types of jobs that are available with this skillset might include management level roles in special educational needs schools, recreational therapists, or occupational therapist.

A recreational therapist will have obtained a degree in recreational therapy or something very similar. This type of therapist will work with people who have cognitive, emotional, and physical disabilities. As part of their job roles, they will assess those that they work with and create and implement training plans and programs. They may use activities such as art, music, sport, and theater in beneficial and therapeutic ways.

An occupational therapist will have obtained a master’s level qualification in a related subject. Occupational therapists will treat those who are disabled or injured through the use of various different types of therapy.

Top Ways to Support Your Child with Remote Learning

Two of the focuses of my blog are Current Events and General Education. The Coronavirus/Covid-19 Crisis/Pandemic has adversely affected the educations of children across the world. Due to the pandemic, children have been forced in remote learning. Many parents/guardians have been unprepared for this change and have had to also adapt on the fly. The following contributed post is entitled, Top Ways to Support Your Child with Remote Learning.

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The coronavirus pandemic continues to get more serious, prompting closures of businesses and schools. Schools across the country have either ended the academic year or switched to online learning.

For many children, online learning is a new experience. Parents also have an extra burden, making sure their kids learn in the best environment.

Here are tips to help your child focus during distance learning:

#1: Create a designated learning space

Your child will work best in a comfortable, dedicated space that’s devoted to their studies. It can be their room, the living room, or the kitchen counter.

Talk to your child about where they’re the most comfortable studying. It may take some time for them to figure that out, so let them stay in different spaces until they find their designated study space.

Remove all distractions from your child’s learning area. Turn off the TV, limit their use of devices, and stow away their toys. Make sure they sit in a comfortable chair and give them easy access to school supplies. If they’re taking music lessons like piano, make sure the computer is accessible to the musical instrument.

#2: Set a schedule

Children work best when they maintain a routine. Figure out what’s the best time for them to learn. While some kids work best in the morning, others focus better in the afternoon or evening.

Once you’ve determined the best learning time, set a study schedule. Fit in breaks between study sessions so your kids can maintain focus. Encourage them to get up, go on walks, and move around, so they’re not sedentary.

#3: Encourage interaction

Your child will feel the effects of being away from friends. Aside from letting them talk on social media or text messaging, schedule a video playdate. You can speak to other parents to set up a video call so your kids can hang out with each other.

Stay in touch with fellow parents as well. Talk to them and share best practices on how your children learn. Ask if they need help as well.

#4: Stay in touch with the teachers

Maintain open, frequent communication with your child’s teachers. Doing so helps your kid stay on track with their learning. Reach out to the teachers if you or your child have questions and concerns about the mode of learning or a part in the lesson.

Don’t forget to share your kid’s successes. Talk to the teachers when your child reaches goals or makes positive changes. Your kid will appreciate the positive feedback not just from you but also from their teachers.

#5: Support your child’s behavioral and emotional needs

Set a reward system to motivate children to complete their work. Tell them they did a great job after completing a school day. Adding a checkmark or star sticker on their assignment also goes a long way into motivating your child.

It’s normal for your child to struggle with schoolwork. They are adjusting to the new normal, and they might experience anxiety and stress. Give them time to calm down and help them cope with their feelings.

The rapid closure of schools because of the coronavirus has forced children to change their study environment. Work with your child, fellow parents, and teachers to create the best environment for focusing and learning.

Here Are The Careers To Consider In The Wake Of The Coronavirus

Three of the focuses of my blog are Current Events, Career Discussions and General Education. In the working world, the Coronavirus/Covid-19 Crisis/Pandemic has created an environment where some careers and jobs have risen to the forefront. Going forward, it behooves individuals to consider careers that will thrive under circumstances like these where the Coronavirus has decimated whole sectors. The following contributed post is entitled, Here Are The Careers To Consider In The Wake Of The Coronavirus.

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The coronavirus is going to have a massive impact on the world economy and evidence of this is already apparent. For instance, you might have heard that the unemployment rate in America right now is skyrocketing. Ultimately, this is going to lead to a massive flood of people entering the job market, once the furlough period ends. It’s important that if you are one of these individuals, you are pursuing the right careers. In this brave new world, certain careers are going to be in greater supply than others. So, let’s take a look at some examples.

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Work From Home Positions

Businesses are definitely going to be keen to hire employees who can work and operate from home. There are numerous examples of companies like this. For instance, you might want to create content for a living. If you are keen to do this, then a work from home position is great. You can get a strong income and ensure that you don’t have to worry about the Monday morning commute. Of course, certain businesses are likely to become more flexible about which workers they allow working from home. An example of this would be customer service businesses and call handling companies. With the right tech and the correct setup, there’s no reason why these people can’t work from home.

Tech Operations

As the world shifts to an economy where significantly more people are working from home, it’s going to be important to ensure that businesses can remain connected. This leaves another opportunity wide open and that’s any industry that is required to ensure that these connections can be set up the right way. For instance, if you are involved in setting up cloud servers, then you’re definitely going to be in high demand over the next few years. Businesses will be keen to ensure that they can send and access data and files without delay.

There are lots of opportunities for training on the market too. For instance, you can explore a solution like Flackbox. This will provide the right training you need to ensure that you’re a pro in this particular sector.

Logistics

Finally, it’s likely that there is going to be a higher demand for logistics businesses in the near future. So, whether you are setting up your own company or joining an existing business, this could be a fantastic opportunity. You just need to make sure that you are delivering a quality solution that your customers or clients can trust. Businesses failing to deliver a high standard are going to stick out like a sore thumb.

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to ensure that your career is on the right track in the wake of the coronavirus. Remember, it may seem bleak right now but there are going to be job opportunities on the market. There are going to be positions that need to be filled. You just need to make sure that you are finding the right choice for you.

5 Jobs For Tough People

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“To do some jobs well, you have to be tough.”

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Two key focuses of my blog are Career Discussions and General Education. Some careers and jobs are more well suited for certain types of individuals. There some jobs that are well suited only for ‘tough’ individuals. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Jobs For Tough People.

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To do some jobs well, you have to be tough. Whether you’re working in the public eye or handling difficult and emotionally-sensitive conversations, there are some roles you can only do if you’ve got thick skin and aren’t afraid to disagree with people. Here are five jobs for tough people you might want to consider if you’re feeling brave and looking for a career path to suit your personality.

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1. Process Server

A process server gives people sensitive legal documentation, like eviction notices, summons, subpoenas, and divorce decrees. They can also perform skip tracing to locate individuals that have ‘skipped town’ and undertake financial investigations. You have to be tough to succeed in this industry as let’s face it, people don’t enjoy receiving court summons or being tracked down. If you think you can do it, though, it’s a generally well-compensated way to enter the legal profession.

2. Mortician

Being a mortician was ranked in the top three of the most challenging jobs in 2017. You have to work face to face with death every day while supporting the deceased’s family. The hours are long, and you’re in a dark room, but on the positive side, at least you get to give the person a proper send-off by cleaning, embalming and dressing them ahead of their funeral. You’ll also be making their family happy and providing dignity to the person who has died.

3. Roofer

A roofer has to brave heights, scaffolding, and long periods of the year without work. If you’re a roofer by trade, you might find that you have to diversify over the winter months where work is scarce and could be canceled last minute. You also have to be prepared to walk over precarious surfaces and have to invest in many construction training courses to ensure you are safe and secure when working. It’s the perfect career for people that love working outdoors and aren’t afraid of heights.

4. Corrections (Correctional) Officer

At a potentially over-crowded, understaffed prison, you’ll need to keep calm in a tension-fuelled environment while maintaining control of a prison population. Corrections officers consider the job challenging but rewarding, as they can help individuals improve their lives as part of their rehabilitation. The career path and daily tasks of Corrections (or Correctional) Officers depend on the type of prison you go into. As a career, it’s excellent for training and development as you gain firsthand experience of everything from conflict resolution to self-defense.

5. CEO

As a CEO, you might be responsible for the morale and productivity of thousands of employees, as well as the company’s future as a whole. An unsuccessful CEO is often quickly identified and replaced, so the pressure is on to drive the company to success. Although you’re financially rewarded, the most stressful CEO positions are often considered as the heads of Finance, Tech, or FinTech giants – and if that’s something that interests you, it’s worth looking further into Evolve Bank fintech for more details because it’s a fascinating topic. You also have to make unpopular decisions about company restructuring, as the only people above you are the board.

If you’re tough, one of these career paths may be for you. You might want to enter the legal profession or want a career that allows you to work outside, but choosing one of the above jobs might be the challenge that you need in your life.

Mother’s Day 2020: What Mom Taught Me That Helped Me Through The Coronavirus Pandemic

A Quick Plug

Hello. Thank you for clicking on this link and I hope you enjoy this essay. Writing a book was the genesis of me blogging and becoming a video content creator. I am close to publishing part one of my book project entitled, The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Please consider visiting the page to learn more about the project and see promotional content I’ve created surrounding the project. And now on to our feature presentation.

Mother’s Day Blog Posts

Those of you who have read my content know that I’ve written blog posts for Mother’s Day since starting the Big Words Blog Site. As per usual, the links to my previous Mother’s Day pieces will be shared at the end of this piece. I thought of this piece, while driving back from New York State’s Capital Region as I was recently checking on my father. My Mom is quite cautious and wanted me to shelter in place as much as possible, but following her example, it was important for me to check on my old man during this Coronavirus/Covid-19 Crisis/Pandemic.

Before I get into the messages in this piece which I hope to keep short (by my standards), I want to tell any readers that while our country is looking to reopen shortly, and while infections by the Coronavirus are expected to fall off during the warm weather months, beware of a second wave. It’s predicted that when the cold winter months return, infections will as well. This blog post in some ways may in fact serve as a survival guide for some people who were unprepared for this first tsunami, and it may be helpful should there be future lockdowns and quarantines.

Important Health and Life Habits for the Pandemic

So in terms of Mother’s Day, as I drove back to Washington, DC recently, it occurred to me that my mother imparted some valuable nuggets in my life that helped me survive over the last two months since our country went into this lockdown. Among them are:

• The Ability to Cook: In previous Mother’s Day blog posts, I discussed the home that my mother created for us. A part of that was the meals she prepared for us, ALL of which were prepared with her hands from scratch. Her ability to cook along with my natural curiosity resulted in my ability to cook. I often jokingly tell people that at an early age, I was in the kitchen trying to figure out how she made those scrambled eggs. In addition to picking up recipes of all kinds over the years, from other people and from cookbooks like those from Emeril Lagasse, there are quite a few of Mom’s recipes that I took with me when I left the house. There are secrets that I’m still collecting today, such as most recently how to steam the green beans and onions with enough flavor and succulence at the time of consumption. I’m saying all of this to say that when the lockdown started, I already knew how to cook, so I didn’t severely feel the bite of not being able to eat out. The ability to prepare your own food is a critical skill and if there is in fact a lull in the infections, I would encourage people to learn how to prepare as much of your own food possible. Also learn to prepare healthy foods that you can eat for days at a time and even store for later. That said, I’ve learned that not everyone can eat leftovers, but we learned to do so. Finally, cooking at home also saves you money and stretches your dollars out time-wise.

• Personal Health: In addition to cooking, Mom was big on vitamins and even natural herbs and remedies. Likewise, as I was leaving Buffalo as our country was going deeper into the lockdown, she strongly encouraged me to start regularly taking Vitamin D which has therapeutic benefits for our immune systems. As I’ve been quarantining, I have in fact made Vitamin D a regular part of my daily diet and now Vitamin C as well. I shot videos on my science and technology YouTube channel about the benefits of both vitamins. Please check out those videos and my channel.

• Education, Writing and Building: I give my mother a lot of credit for the blogging platform you’re reading this post on right now. Both parents stressed education at an early age, but it was my mother who insisted that me and my brother learn how word process with proper form at an early age. We also had a computer in the house when we were young, so she saw the wave of the future coming in the early- to mid-1980s. Social distancing and quarantining isn’t natural for human beings and hasn’t always been pleasant at times, but I’ve been fortunate to be able to be keep myself busy and my mind occupied, writing and publishing content. Just as my mother was able to turn her writing abilities into a business, I have as well, which I’ll describe shortly via written content here on the Big Words Blog Site and on my Big Discussions76 YouTube channel.

• The Importance of Faith and Spirituality: Faith and spirituality can be a polarizing topic these days, but no matter how much you have or what you believe, it’s important to have it. Mom was always big on faith. When I go home to Buffalo, I try my best to get myself out of bed on Sunday mornings to attend her church’s services. Just before the lockdown set in, I was at home in Buffalo for two and a half weeks and I attended the last church service at the Mount Olive Baptist Church in Buffalo where the members, like most churches, were able to gather for the last time in a while. Before releasing the congregation, the Pastor read Psalm 91 to us, which was very, very powerful for what was taking place at the time. That scripture is now forever etched into my memory.

Closing Thoughts

So, as I have lots and lots to do, I’m going to stop this here. In the Black community we sometimes dwell on what we didn’t have when we were growing up . We can inevitably get caught looking at what our peers had within our community and in other ethnic groups/cultures. It’s natural in a way, but it’s also important to acknowledge what you were given from your parent or guardian. What did your mother teach that helped you through this challenging time? What might you use if this crisis or another one comes back around?

Oh by the way, fortunately I was able to craft this Mother’s Day blog post pretty quickly and concisely. Right on schedule, Father’s Day is coming up next month and I’ve thought of another really good money-related story involving my father and me which involves a very, very important lesson, so look for it. And in closing, Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out there.

The Big Words LLC Newsletter

For the next phase of my writing journey, I’m starting a monthly newsletter for my writing and video content creation company, the Big Words LLC. In it, I plan to share inspirational words, pieces from this blog and my first blog, and select videos from my four YouTube channels. Finally, I will share updates for my book project The Engineers: A Western New York Basketball Story. Your personal information and privacy will be protected. Click this link and register using the sign-up button at the bottom of the announcement. If there is some issue signing up using the link provided, you can also email me at bwllcnl@gmail.com . Best Regards.