TRENDING 🔥
102-year-old woman becomes oldest high school grad in school district, Paris, Illinois 🎓
It's never too late to finish what you started and it doesn’t matter how old you are. 102-year old Gladys Wright was supposed to graduate from high school in 1936 but dropped because she was ill. Lifelong regret led her to enroll in an adult education program and complete the missing credits. When asked what she wanted on graduation day, she said:
1) [I] want a graduation cap because [I] want to turn the tassel.
2) [I want people to know I] did not receive an honorary diploma because of [my] age. [I] earned an actual diploma because of [my] resilience.
(Video) Migrating herd of Asian elephants caught napping near China’s kunming city 🐘🐘🐘
A group of Asian elephants were seen traveling 300 miles away from a natural reserve and going north through China. The herd had been walking for the past 15 months are were spotted napping. Scientists don't know the reason the group of elephants is travelling or where they are going.
Scientists don’t know why the group is traveling, or where they’re headed. But their journey is captivating people around the world.
Besides elephants, naps are good for a person's health especially in the age of over-exposure to digital screens. This 2-minute CBC video talks about the benefits of napping and expert say naps should be short.
TOOLS 🛠️ ⚙️
5 neck flexor stretches to reduce pain and improve posture 🧘🏽
Nick Topel, an ISSA-certified personal trainer says to reduce your neck pain, you must"
schedule frequent breaks and create movement. The neck and back are meant to move. Muscle strain increases when we sit all day.
5 neck exercises are recommended in the article to maintain good body posture and strengthen your neck flexors. Neck flexors are "a group of muscles that work to stabilize the neck and try to naturally ensure good posture."
POP CULTURE 🎥🎵🎮
(Video) Former neo-Nazi removes swastika tattoos after unlikely friendship 🖌️
Tiffany Whittier, who is African-American and Michael Kent's parole officer ignored the Nazi paraphernalia on his walls on her update visits. He had been part of a violent white supremacist movement in Arizona for 20 years that was known for committing hate crimes. She preferred to focus on Michael saying:
I wanted to get to know him on face value. I just began to speak to Michael, find out where he's from, where his hate stemmed from.
Tiffany jokingly asked him to take down his Nazi paraphernalia and replace it with positive messages. To her suprise, he acted on her request and replaced the negative with the positive on his wall.
As their friendship grew stronger ,Michael visited Redemption Ink, a not-for-profit organisation in the U.S. that removes hate-related tattoos. He had two swastika tattoos removed.
NOTABLE PEOPLE📝 📖🖊️
(Video) Graduation Class of '21: Six-word memoirs 🧑🎓🧑🏿🎓🧑🏻🎓🧑🏽🎓👩🏽🎓
This past month, millions of students graduated. Few people regret finishing school but most regretted graduating online via Zoom during the '20 and '21 pandemic.
Larry Smith believes everyone has a story. Since 2006, he's asked readers to submit their own six-word memoirs at SMITH Magazine. Try writing your own following this video.
He compiled the best ones in the book, Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure.
Examples of six-word memoirs from the book:
Coulda, shoulda, woulda: a regretful life.
—Joe Maida
Aging late bloomer. Yearns for do-over.
—Sydney Zvara
I hope to outlive my regrets.
—Bob Logan
Many risky mistakes, very few regrets.
—Richard Schnedl
Wasted time regretted, so life reinvented.
—Vicky Oppus
No Wife. No Kids. No Problems.
—Rip Riley
Class of 2021 Six-word memoirs: I had the pleasure to ask six graduates what it meant to be part of the Class of '21 graduating from primary, secondary or post-secondary school. Here's what they said:
Six words: School's out. Be happy it happened.
Don’t be sad it’s over, be happy because it happened.
—Drew Putt, Elementary Education, Toronto
Six words: Unexpected chaos that allowed for introspection.
The year felt incomplete, particularly lonely with no in-person classes. Having dreamt of graduation and prom with none attained, the fact that I graduated has still not sunk in.
—Harsh-Deep Benipal, Secondary School Diploma, West Humber Collegiate Institute, Toronto
Six words: Graduation begins yet a new journey.
Be proud of the road you have walked and how far you have come but remember the journey has just begun.
—Mechan Staple Jr., Secondary School Diploma, Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute, Toronto
Six words: Sanitizing groceries, TikTok, lectures on bed
Wanted to experience a college experience here in Canada, but instead I experienced how to get your post-graduate certificate while you are laying on a bed all day, cried the whole journey but graduated with honors anyway. Just a reminder for the next step, challenge yourself, believe in your abilities and trust the process.
—Mennatallah Fahmy, Post Graduate Certificate, Centennial College, Toronto
Six words: Masked mailman and you, the convocation.
I returned to school because I felt like I was stagnating. The MFA program provided the creative spark I craved. Graduating in 2021 was bittersweet because while it felt like an accomplishment, it was a surreally quiet one, like a tree falling in a forest.
—Virginia Heffernan, MFA in Creative Non-fiction, University of King’s College, Halifa
Six words: Pregnant mother graduates for daughter's future.
I'll tell my daughter, Yara, about how I was 40 weeks pregnant, writing my final paper for my Master's in Education. I'll tell her how I nearly postponed it because I was worried about additional stress while pregnant. We'll discuss what it means to dream big and pursuing ambitions. I'll remind her that nothing is impossible and that she can achieve anything she puts her mind to. Then she'll have this moment where she'll realize she can do anything in this entire world and nothing will ever be able to stop her. Being a mom and obtaining my master's degree means a better future for my daughter and having her know that she CAN and WILL move mountains. As a mom, it doesn't get much better than that.
—Elysha Daya, Master of Education, OISE University of Toronto, Toronto
LASTLY 🏠 ❓ ℹ️
CFP News profiles people who collaborate on cool stuff impacting communities. Archive issues are here.
Flavian DeLima founded Collaborate for Purpose. Besides the newsletter 📧, we have a podcast 🎙️ and run kitchen table conversation events🔥.
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The theme of this issue is regret. 😔 I hadn't thought about this topic much before. In the past, my default answer when asked about regrets was, “I don't have any ". 😛 I was like the guy in "We’re the Millers". If I told this to President Biden, I bet he’d say, “That’s a bunch of malarkey“.
Everyone has regrets, especially in the short term, which can feel devastating at the time. Short-term regrets become less significant with time. It’s the long-term regrets that linger and fester as we get older and look back on things we wanted to do but never did.
I’ve watched many smart and talented friends admit to me, saying, “I’m a screwup” when something bad happened and they felt completely alone and responsible. I’ve had the same thoughts and said the same words, especially early in my career, when I keep my failures private. Along the way, I learned that saying, “I screwed up” is so much lighter 😌 and allows you to move past a regret instead of replaying the same "I'm a screwup" story in your head. Stop beating yourself up and be kinder to yourself.
One of the biggest regrets people have is about education. They regret not going, not completing, or taking too long to go back to school. This past month has been graduation season with thousands of convocation ceremonies. This issue is dedicated to the millions of graduates who completed their studies. and in particular to 6 grads who shared their views (See the Notable People section). Congratulations to the Class of 2021!
To read the entire article on the blog, click How to overcome regret and not be a cog in the wheel of life
Flavian
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CFP News is a weekly roundup of the best links on how people collaborate, create social impact, and build community. An online version is here and archives are here.