New Normal – At Least for Today!

When you’re the Dean and you get your own blog, you get to put up your own photos, so here are some photos of my donkeys.  This gray/brown donkey is a jenny (female donkey) and her name is Blondee.  She was named that by the donkey rescue organization that she came from because she gets a very light coat, almost white, in the summer.

So, here we are the day after we had to cancel our clinical courses and facing new challenges.  You may feel a little lost this morning, as I do, because of the change in schedule and because there are still so many unknowns.  Our routines are comforting to us and when they are disrupted, we get anxious.  Broward College employees are expected to work from home.  I’m fortunate that I have a job that can be done, for the most part, remotely and that I have the resources I need at home to work.  Still, I found myself standing in my living room this morning trying to figure out what to do next.

What can we do to handle the anxiety that comes from a change in our routine?  Establishing a new routine, that includes as much of our old routine as possible, may be the answer.  I wrote about how rituals can help you with test taking anxiety here.

Those same principles will help us deal with any anxiety about our current situation. I take a 2-mile walk with my dogs at 5:00 a.m. every morning.  I call that my meditative walk.  I reflect on the previous day, pray, and try to stay open to possible solutions and ideas related to the issues I think I’ll face that day.  I have found that I need that walk in the morning and when I don’t do it, I suffer the consequences.  Keeping that ritual of a morning walk will help me handle this change in my routine.  A friend and former coworker calls me on my way to work several mornings a week during her own commute to her hospital job.  When my phone rang this morning, my first reaction was that I couldn’t talk to her this morning because I’m not in the car.  I quickly realized that was nuts and picked up the phone.  It was comforting to talk with her and hear about what’s happening at her hospital during this crisis.

What kind of routines and rituals will help you get through this challenge?  You should consider sticking to your study schedule as much as possible.  For those whose kids are suddenly at home, this may not be possible.  You’ll have to figure out a new study schedule that works with your new situation.  Do you study best at the library?  For now, public libraries are open and you may be able to find a quiet place to study at the public library.  If you have to stay home to study and you have others around, you will have to set up some boundaries – explain what you need to be successful in your program and ask those you live with to support you.

Donkey break:  This is Donkey, our white mini donkey gelding (a boy with less boy parts).  He was also named by someone else and I wish we would have changed his name when we rescued him, but we didn’t, so he’s still Donkey.  He’s got blue eyes and is a real sweetheart (Blondee beats up on him a bit).

Back to our topic – decreasing our anxiety in our new normal.

Broward College mandated this pause in classes for a reason, to give people time to adapt to a new way of delivering and receiving instruction.  You should use this time to get ready for remote learning.  It will be different, there’s no question.  You can find endless advice from a variety of reliable sources about how to transition to a remote learning environment.  For me, it’s the norm.  I earned my Master’s degree and my Doctor of Philosophy through online programs.  I’ve been teaching online for over ten years.  I’ve always learned much better in the online environment.  That is not the case for everyone and we understand that.  It will take some time to get used to.

Some of the best advice I’ve seen and heard over the past few days is this:  keep calm and check your email.  Email is still our main method of communication in the College.  I know it’s not the most popular with students, but this is the time to make an exception.  Build in checking your email to your new routine.

Let’s keep in touch.  You can email me or you can leave questions/comments here.  I’ll respond to comments/questions as quickly as I can.

Get the latest general Broward College updates at https://www.broward.edu/coronavirus/.