A couple of weeks ago, I witnessed a colleague responding to the many #ClearTheList tweets and Facebook posts. She was spending a significant amount of her own money to support educators for their back-to-school needs. She inspired me. I thought to myself, “If my colleague, who I technically employ, can do this, why am I not doing this?” So I started clearing some lists and my experience brought me to tears (good…and bad).

I’m actually not sure I had COVID. I’m mostly just confused and exhausted. I never tested positive despite the exposure I experienced but testing positive now depends a lot on when exactly you test and the type of test you use. Whatever it all was, I had never felt more horrible.

Throughout my childhood, my brother used to constantly tell me that I live in a dream world. "You’ll never do that, Elana. That’s just a dream." It’s true -- I dreamt of big things. I believed that I could do anything and would do anything to help my family, who was always struggling to make ends meet.

I recently came across a tweet that just shattered me. It was from an educator that was sitting in her car debating whether she should go in and teach her class or just quit right then and there. After twenty minutes in the car, she decided to turn in her badge and keys. Sadly this educator is not alone. It’s the beginning of October and educators across the country are not ok. My heart breaks for them, and I feel helpless.

I’ve been thinking a lot about intuition lately. Some people call it “gut instinct” or “following a hunch.” It’s been formally defined as the ability to understand or know something immediately based on your feelings rather than facts.

And just like that, summer has almost passed. Were you able to spend time recharging or did you continue to charge through life? If you have a little more time before the school year starts, please take a moment to plan something, anything, that fuels you.

For the last couple of years, I’ve gotten into the habit of writing three things that I am grateful for every day. Because of this, I thought I was a fairly grateful person, but a recent injury helped me understand that there are many things I took for granted. Being able to walk was one of them.

I recently spent some time on the beautiful island of Kauai. I grew up there as a small child and it was a calming feeling to finally come back home. When I wasn’t in the water, I had some downtime to reflect on this school year.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day. First and foremost, for those of you who are educators, thank you for everything you do for students every single day. Although I have never been a classroom teacher, I had the privilege of collaborating with inspiring educators across the country during my eight-year tenure at The George Lucas Educational Foundation (known to the world as Edutopia), and I can tell you that what you all do is nothing short of a miracle.

April has arrived, and with it comes one of the fastest vaccine roll-outs in U.S. history. In the last month, I’ve witnessed educators around the country sharing the exact moment when they were vaccinated on social media, while tears of joy and relief trickle down many of their faces. It’s bittersweet for me.