Well, 2018. It's a Wrap. My Last Day To Reflect on the Year That Just Was

I always tell everyone that New Year's is my least favorite holiday of the year, but it isn't the purpose of the day - it's the excessive celebration after a month of eating that I'm not fond of. I'm always ready for next steps, new visions, and much change as the ball drops from the sky. Tomorrow, begins another 365 cycle, so for today I the location to think critically about the year that just was. I'm reaching out my arm to the clouds one more time - many thanks to the Great Whatever - and recalling events, moments, and celebrations of what mattered most in the last year.

I will likely keep my heads in the clouds, but I'm ready to go inward a bit, a chrysalis of sorts, to think about what I want to accomplish in the year to come: hopefully a year of hope, legacy, new programs, and better professional connections. With that noted, here's the top ten of what I'm most proud of this year.

Love. It was a year of love and I'm thankful to Matt de la Péna and Loren Long for debuting their children's book of the same name. It provided a backdrop for classes, school programs, and writing prompts. It also was a wonderful theme to share with my family and friends, who I love dearly, and to keep my eyes on what matters most.

MLK & Running for Refugee Traditions. It was never my mission to read as much wisdom of Martin Luther King as I have or to be doing the work that I do, but in 2018, it was the 7th year for me to assist the MLK programs at Fairfield University and to support both CIRI and IRIS with their work with immigrant and refugee families, including the yearly road race and our summer program with Ubuntu Academy.

A Loss of a Role Model and Friend. No year goes by without sadness to accompany it, and it came as a total shock when I learned Dr. Vin Rosivach passed away. He and I worked closely on the salary committee and his classical wisdom always was an inspiration for the work I do in Connecticut. In fact not once, but twice, his legacy reached out to me to help make the CWP-vision possible. He saw the work I do with youth communities and teachers and simply wanted me to know, "I see you." He wanted to help the work and he did...TWICE...in tremendous ways. I will never forget his influence on my life and I hope he is resting in peace.

A Reunion with my Japanese Family. In 2002, I did a Fulbright Memorial Scholarship to Tokyo, Japan, but also traveled to the countryside to stay with the Sakano family. They were wonderful to me and this year they came to NYC to reunite (and I got to meet a whole new generation of kids). It was unbelievable to see them once more and I was so touched they reached out and made the experience possible.

21st Century Literacies Research Initiative Divergent Award. In 2017, I was contacted by Shelbie Witte to announce that I hit the trifecta and was going to be named a 2018 Divergent Award Recipient. The excitement was enormous, but Mother Nature wasn't my friend and sent a freak ice storm to Oklahoma on the day I was supposed to arrive. The event had to be canceled (even though Jennifer Dail was already there). The result was a flight to Atlanta, a long day and dinner, and a flight back. I never made it, but the lecture series was rescheduled and I was able to give my guest speech anyway. It also solidified the friendship with Dr. Shelbie Witte who became one of my greatest champions of 2018. I'm forever indebted to her for giving me this opportunity.

Tenured. I did not throw a party, I didn't make a fanfare announcement, but I did let it silently be known that Fairfield University granted me tenure in the spring and the hard work of 2012-2017 paid off. I know it is supposed to be a big deal, but I was too busy to draw attention to myself (although I had many friends stop me to say, "I need to celebrate this with you," and I let them). In my head, I thought I'd throw a party during the summer, but that never happened. The letter came and it is in the same place it was when I opened it. It's on the bench in the hallway leading to the kitchen. I still don't want to touch the letter because it simply triggers all the stress. of the past years. I don't have summers off to work on my dossier, so I held my breath and went into ram mode in 2017. I got it done. The promotion is a huge sigh of relief.

Key West. For years, my Aunt and Uncle tried to get me to visit them in Key West, where they live during the winter months. Knowing Chitunga needed a break from his studies, I made a short trip for the two of us to actually take a second to breathe. None of the writing that occurred at this time captures how wonderful it was to be in the heat and to see a new part of the world (the first time I've taken a short trip for myself since....well, since forever). I loved every second of it.

Project Citizen. CWP now hosts 100s of kids every summer and at least 50 teachers in our various programs. The last two years, we've received SEED Summer Camp grants to offer fellowships to youth from high needs schools to come to our summer programs to take part in political, argumentative writing. For all of us involved, there are few words to capture how powerful the experience is for the teachers and kids. The two weeks we spent this year working with 26 amazing kids and 11 teachers in the summer institute was remarkable - so much so that we're writing about and processing it now. In some ways, it stands for everything I believe in (and because I couple it with Ubuntu Academy) my heart is tremendously fulfilled.

Hoops Africa: Ubuntu Matters. In October, I worked with producer Taylor Sharp, my cousin Mark Crandall, and Coach Sydney Johnson to pull off a screening of Hoops Africa: Ubuntu Matters in collaboration with the Quick Center. Again, there's too much to cover here, but the evening turned out to be better than expected with standing room only for the screening and full support from University athletics. In addition, two Fairfield students went to Zimbabwe with Hoops4Hope during the summer, who were also featured during the event. It was an evening 20 years in the making and one of the biggest things I've ever pulled off (I'm still exhausted thinking about it).

Saugatuck Story Fest. Anyone who was anywhere near me this last year had me talking about the incredible vision of Rebecca Marsick, Kim Herzog and the Saugatuck Story Fest Youth Advisory Board. Initiated in January 2018, we met monthly to pull off a festival for writers in southern Connecticut and managed to bring names like Jason Reynolds, Nic Stone, Libba Bray, Gayle Forman, Ashley Woodfolk, Robin Benway and Ibi Zoboi. It was simply amazing and I am still scratching my head that all this happened in my universe. The highlight, I suppose, was having quality time with Nic Stone as her work became central to Project Citizen, my teaching, and the crushes that resulted (cough cough Kemoy).

That's my ten, but perusing the last 365 days of blog posts I realize that I really have 365 days to celebrate and I could have named any of them as the best days of year. I'm a lucky Son of a Butch. It's been quite a year and I look forward to seeing what 2019 will bring my way. For now, however, I'm simply thankful for my family, especially Chitunga, my dog, my health, my house and the technology that allows me to post such thoughts.

Tomorrow, I promise the tradition will continue, and another year, the 12th year, will commence. I'm ready for the metamorphosis to begin.