We Are Here For You: Anderson College Weekly Connect

We hope you and your loved ones continue to be safe and well – we’re sure you were as surprised as we were with the recent snow, just when we thought winter was behind us!

Happy belated Mother’s Day

Wishing all mothers, grandmothers and mothers in memory a belated Happy Mother’s Day. Mothers have a tremendous impact on the world, let’s celebrate motherhood with a few quick quotes:

• “God could not be everywhere, therefore he made mothers.” – Rudyard Kipling
• “All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.” – Abraham Lincoln
• “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.”- Tenneva Jordan
• “There is only one perfect child in the world, and every mother has it.” – Chinese Proverb

Avoid study-from-home burnout

In the past, the commute to school gets you ready for learning, and the commute home gets you ready for relaxation. During the shutdown, the line is blurred, it is not surprising for you to feel the “study-from-home burnout”. You are facing so many changes, please be patient with yourself, your classmates, and your instructors. Your self-care is a top priority, please put your well-being first. Here are a few tips to tackle the burnout:

• Stay organized, set a defined schedule for study time, personal time and family time.
• Stay focused, avoid multitasking during study.
• Make the most of video lectures – ask questions, interact with your fellow classmates and your instructor, avoid distractions, we promise you that FB, YouTube and Netflix will all still be there after your classes.
• Try not to procrastinate.
• Check on your fellow classmates if they are absent; and ask for help if you are absent.
• Stay connected with your instructor and classmates through online groups.
• Self-care, take good care of your physical and mental wellbeing.
• Most importantly, know that this is temporary, and this too shall pass. Things will get back to normal. We may not know when, but we know it will happen and we will continue to be here for you.

Must stay the course

Prime Minister Trudeau stated that while many are getting used to the new normal, as time goes on, staying at home and not seeing friends is going to get harder:

• “We’re going to miss our colleagues, our friends, our neighbours, and our parents even more than we do now. But we have to be disciplined. We must stay the course. We cannot let the progress we’ve made go to waste.”
• “Our focus is right now recognizing that we are still in the emergency phase where people need to get supports. We are not in the recovery phase yet, not even fully in the restarting phase yet.”

Please continue protecting yourself – practice physical distancing, wear masks whenever needed, wash your hands for 20 seconds and clean your mobile device surfaces.

Short story – The black dot

One day, a professor entered his classroom and asked his students to prepare for a surprise test. They all waited anxiously at their desks for the exam to begin.

The professor handed out the exams with the text facing down, as usual. Once he handed them all out, he asked the students to turn over the papers.

To everyone’s surprise, there were no questions–just a black dot in the centre of the paper. The professor, seeing the expression on everyone’s faces, told them the following: “I want you to write about what you see there.” The students, confused, got started on the inexplicable task.

At the end of the class, the professor took all the exams, and started reading each one of them out loud in front of all the students.
All of them, with no exception, defined the black dot, trying to explain its position in the centre of the sheet. After all had been read, the classroom silent, the professor started to explain:

“I’m not going to grade you on this, I just wanted to give you something to think about. No one wrote about the white part of the paper. Everyone focused on the black dot – and the same thing happens in our lives. However, we insist on focusing only on the black dot – the health issues that bother us, the lack of money, the complicated relationship with a family member, the disappointment with a friend. The dark spots are very small when compared to everything we have in our lives, but they are the ones that pollute our minds. Take your the eyes away from the black dots in your lives. Enjoy each one of your blessings, each moment that life gives you. Be happy and live a life filled with love!”

Government measures

In this difficult time, it is so important to know what kind of support is available, we hope the following list is helpful:

• Parents receiving the Canada Child Benefit can expect a one-time, extra $300 per child with their May payment.
• Extra time to file income tax returns – 2019 income tax filing due date deferred until June 1, 2020 and new tax payments due August 31, 2020 without interest or penalties.
• Special Goods and Services Tax credit payment for low- and modest-income families of up to $400 for individuals and $600 for couples.
• Banking support including deferral of up to six monthly mortgage payments and cutting credit card rates by as much as 50%.

Please stay safe and well!

Sincerely,
The Anderson College Team