WINTER 2019

“The winter solstice has always been special to me as a barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully extracting itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth into unexpected glory.” —Gary Zukav

As I reflect on this quote and as the solstice passes with the days just a little longer now, I am reminded of our recent December graduates whose future college classes are just ahead of them, and of our team having prepared them well this past semester. Just like the monarch butterfly, they have flown from the comforts of our TTC program to the bigger world of the Community College with so much ahead of them, some things expected and yet many things still to learn. I wish them all well in their new journey.

As each TTC program ends, a new one begins with the same hopes, the same dreams, and the same expectations that the new group of students will learn and benefit from the experiences that TTC provides for them. As we begin a new year, TTC is a new beginning for so many. It is always exciting to plan for a new semester, having learned from the past one and by creating new opportunities to support our pending students. It is also a time of letting go, knowing that TTC has provided its best for our graduates, and looking forward once again to supporting and educating our new students. Before they know it, January will be here, and they will be using Google Classroom, submitting assignments, and texting me, making sure they understood they correctly. So it begins, again- - how to teach and how to learn, too, and how to support and build a new community of learners who are like the butterfly, extracting themselves from the unknown into the verdant pastures of TTC.

Welcome to our new class!

Sincerely,

Marie Crecca-Romero