I cannot believe that it is August 31st. I had a great summer… attending the CSBA Congress 2013 in Vancouver, camping at Hotel Lake, presenting at the SFU Faculty of Education Summer Institute, writing and submitting a draft proposal for my dissertation, joining the Sunshine Coast Community Futures Board of Directors, transforming my business with FUSE and Leah Goard, visiting family and friends, and going to my first Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts. It’s been an awesome summer, but now it’s time for some ACTION. Crazy, I know. Seems like I was busy already. Wrong. More decisions to make, commitments to keep, and goals to achieve. No more waiting for others, seeking for approval, or feeling unworthy. I’m done with that. So… YES… I’m running again for school trustee in 2014. YES… I’m completing my dissertation in 2014. And YES… I’m transforming Younghusband Consulting to be a successful business in 2014. It’s a hat trick of awesomeness… and this is not including my 10K training program. This will be achieved in 2013 at the Granville Island Turkey Trot Run in October. Nothing gets achieved without massive action. Might as well jump in, regardless of everyone else.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 31st, 2013 | Comments Off on ACTION
I have no words to describe what this process is like… except for guessing and checking. Branding myself as a public school teacher seemed somewhat easier than branding myself as an independent educational consultant, academic, or politician. As a public school teacher, it took me several years to establish “my brand” in the school… “aka. resident math/calculus teacher.” I never changed schools within my 16 year career and my reputation precedes me. I suppose I rebranded several times within the school with different job assignments and roles, but I had firmly established “my brand” within the school community. This is why teachers stay at the same school for a period of time or reluctant to change schools over time. Rebranding takes work. I can only imagine what it will take to brand or rebrand myself as “Younghusband Consulting” for the world. Yup. Go big or go home. That is my mantra. There are definitely peaks, valleys, and plateaus in my pedagogical journey, whether it be with my doctoral studies, self-employment, or political career. Overall, my goal is to keep striving towards my vision. Sometimes I will fall… and that’s OK. I just have to get up, learn, reflect, and try again. So far, it has taken me almost three years to step away from the mindset of teaching in public education to advocating for public education, researching about public education, and contributing to public education. Every opportunity influences the direction I am heading. For this, I am grateful.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 29th, 2013 | Comments Off on Rebranding
Affirmed. Life is complicated. Here’s the back seat of my car filled with National Geographic magazines dating back to the 1970’s. My trunk is full too. I’m a little beside myself. These magazines belonged to a good friend of mine, Alby. He was my neighbour. He lived just across the street with his wife and dog, then moved a few blocks away about five years ago. Alby would take Levi, the dog, around the neighbourhood daily to meet and greet the neighbours. Loved this guy!!! I loved his sense of humour, kindness, and wit. He always lifted my spirit and made me laugh. I wondered why I haven’t seen him and Levi around, but never gave it a second thought. Today, I found out that Levi was laid to rest and Alby has been in the hospital since October. That’s almost a year ago. His wife called to see if I could redistribute his collection. I had no idea that their lives turned around. It was out of their control and now faced with what’s next? Honoured to have a little part of Alby.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 16th, 2013 | Comments Off on National Geographic
Life is funny. You can never put your guard down because there is always something just around the corner to surprise you. I thought, decision made… moving forward… and taking the next steps to achieve my goal. Then life takes a turn and asks, “What’s really important to you?” Instead of listening to my heart, I get into my head. In the end, what’s important are mutually exclusive. Apparently, I can’t have it all. This sucks. I can’t please everyone, including myself. I am building the plane as I’m flyingit. That sounds kind of dangerous, but I don’t have all of the answers. I’m learning as I go. What I am learning is, something cannot be gained without losing something. I cannot control what other people choose to do. I can only control what I do. My framework is… be authentic, be honest, and be courageous. My actions may not appease some people. What I do may not meet some people’s expectations. This cannot be a concern of mine. I am trying my best. As much as I want to help, serve, and influence others… what about me? Follow me or not. Either way, I’m good. Do what makes you happy.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 16th, 2013 | Comments Off on What About Me
Well… here it is… the fruits of my labour. It has taken several days (and several recycling bins) to get my home office to look like this. I still have a bit to do. If you take a closer look, on the left and right hand side of the photo, I have several piles of edu-articles to sort through and file. Besides that, I’m liking how my office looks and feels. I’ve procrastinated this “clean & purge” process for quite some time. Teachers are Hoarders. It’s not easy to make decisions, let things go, and move forward. The toughest part of this process was stumbling upon artifacts that highlighted the “good” and the “bad” of my teaching career. From thank you cards to letters to old final exams, they all had to go. I even recycled my Math 100/101 notes from university. Can you believe that those notes were 25 years old? Gasp. Redefining my office space was another “next step.” I was meant to find these artifacts and remind myself of what was and what is. Moving forward.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 13th, 2013 | Comments Off on Artifacts
Here’s Flat Christine hanging out with her caretaker, Kim. Apparently Flat Christine likes driving. Interesting. I did not know that about her. Round Christine prefers someone else driving. Hmm… learning something new everyday… much like the dissertation process. It’s ironic when I’m writing about professional learning and the goods internal to the practice. The goods internal are feelings of joy, satisfaction, and bliss. The practice, in this case, is my dissertation. According to Alasdair McIntyre (1984), you can only achieve the goods internal to the practice by engaging in the practice. Affirmed. As much as I (aka. Round Christine) was challenged by the daunting task of completion, once I had established the goods external to the practice, such as job prospects and future aspirations, I was able to move forward. With extrinsic motivation and engagement, I was able to realize the goods internal to the practice. Making progress. Feels good.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 09th, 2013 | Comments Off on Making Progress
Recently, I’ve been gaining momentum on my dissertation. I’m truly enjoying the work and hope to complete in 2014. Much of this momentum has to do with setting some goals, making decisions, and jumping in. We all have different ready times, moments of clarity, and motivation to move forward. There is no question in my mind that I was scared and uncertain. Over the past few years, I’ve learned so much experientially and met so many wonderful mentors that I am ready. Things are falling into place as if the puzzle pieces are fitting together nicely. It’s a good feeling. My amazing aha occurred to me yesterday after a midnight run and revising my literature review. As much as I was writing about professional learning, I realized that I was writing about myself. After so many attempts to disembed and distantiate myself from my paper, and believe I have done so, I realized that my dissertation is all about me and my professional learning. What a pleasant realization. Looking forward to what else I find out.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 06th, 2013 | Comments Off on Awesome Aha
Is this you? I have several photos, like this, of me with my phone. I’m a bit of a social media junkie. I’ll admit it. Here I am “camping” at Hotel Lake with my phone. Half of the summer is over and July has been absolutely amazing or catalytic to my transformation. CSBA (Canadian School Board Association) Congress 2013, SFU Summer Institute, Community Futures Sunshine Coast, and FUSE Work Party are a few professional learning opportunities I’ve engaged in this summer. I’m a sucker for learning. What I’ve really enjoyed this summer is Twitter Chatting. I’ve been following #bcedchat. With that said, I’m confident there are many other Twitter Chats to belong to that may or may not be education related. You just have to find the hashtag and join. So far on #bcedchat we’ve chatted about teacher education, assessment, and digital literacy. Once a week for an hour I can connect with other educators in BC and beyond about education. We answer questions, share ideas, and dialogue in 140 characters or less. For an extroverted educator writing a dissertation, this kind of teacher professional development is awesome!!! #highlyrecommended #lookingforwardtonextweek #socialemotionallearning
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, August 02nd, 2013 | Comments Off on Twitter Chat
Thank goodness for other people and their willingness to help other people. On July 26th, I was one of eight entrepreneurs to partake in a “Work Party” with Leah Goard at FUSE. I love how I am writing about professional learning in my doctoral thesis and I’m engaged in professional learning as an entrepreneur. Ideas like expertise, mentorship, and self-directed learning resonate with my academic work and my lived experience. Listening to my intuition, feeling good, and fulfilling my vision must be aligned with my life and my business. I walked away from the work party knowing that the DECISION is MADE. This is suppose to be liberating because I can’t go back. For the past few months, I thought that I was in the decision-making process. Corrected. The decision is made and I’m contemplating how to move forward and take the ‘next step.’ Apparently, there is no path for me to find on this pedagogical journey… I am creating it.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, July 28th, 2013 | Comments Off on Decision Made
Once again… my daughter teaches me a lesson. Here she is at the Sechelt Thursday Night Market making LARGE bubbles with two sticks and string. Why? One after the other, she dips the sticks into a bucket of soapy water then takes several steps back in hopes of making a gigantic bubble for little kids to chase. Hmm… what is this all about? She loves coming to Thursday Night Market. I would consider her a regular. She knows the routines, the vendors, and the people. Tonight I took her to the market. My daughter could stay for the full 4 hours, but I’m a bit of a ‘rain cloud’ and limited our experience to 2.5 hours. Seemed sufficient. Anyway, what is my kid doing? She is doing what makes her happy. She made bubbles… participated in the yoga the flash mob… and bought ice cream from the ice cream truck. She just loves it. What did she did teach me? There could be a whole crap of things weighing you down, dampening your mood, or holding you back. Forget about it. Do what makes you happy. Move forward. Sometimes it may seem weird, absurd, or contradictory to others, but who cares? Does it make you happy? Yes? Then do it.
Written by Christine Ho Younghusband, July 26th, 2013 | Comments Off on Do What Makes You Happy
