A New Year’s Toast

Another year, another turn around the sun; here’s to you and here’s to me in all which we've become. May our resolutions be resolute and our remembrance be taken as lessons of truth, and if one thing is to be certain it is that these truths that pave our resolutions are far more intertwined than we can imagine. To be successful through perseverance and achievement may create a path which makes us wanting in a way that in the future perhaps we choose to be more like that person. That person which was able to overcome adversity, was able to make strides to their goals, and was able to create positive notches into their own identity. In juxtaposition may our failures not be a means of quitting but a foundation to be built upon to create success. In example we say this upcoming turn around the sun we make the boring conclusion that this time around we wish to be more physically fit. I said boring which shouldn't be mistaken for not being fruitful. In the past you may have picked up a habit of exercising more or eating less junk food and you wish to expand upon that success. Maybe in your failures you've decided that a few less times eating fast food may be advantageous. Either way your remembrance paves your resolution.

In digression I would like to state this. It seems to me that the generation that was lost in space has also been very adamant in making the world a smaller place. The television brings Vietnam into your living room. A cell phone allows you to be connected to friends, families, businesses, employers, and anyone you may possibly drunk dial tonight. The internet has literally become the fountain of knowledge. Facebook highlights your timeline with a documentation, a bibliography of you, and as nicely as I can say, this bibliography of average boring you is better than most of the greatest thinkers and doers of all of humankind. I think two lessons can be learned from this. That deep down in the root of our identity we wish to be remembered, and that we also wish to share our experiences with others. For the most part, I say good to that. The more connected we become, the more in tune with the outside world, the more we share with each other, the more we learn from others will allow us to grow into a more wholesome members of humanity. From the simple stuff like when John Doe put bleach in his laundry which ruined his clothes and we learned not to do that. The everyday stuff where we took this class and formed this study group because we learned from others that the teacher in that particular class was the best one and that a study group was the best way to learn the things in that class. To the complicated stuff where Jane Doe didn't make it to this New Year’s party because we didn't see her depression.

 That being said I would like to take this time to discuss a resolution that should be resounding to this upcoming year and all the years beyond that. First the admittance of the truth that we cannot do this alone, that we need each other, and that since the dawn of mankind community has always been the institution for success and progress both individually and communally. With that truth we must remain resolute in sharing our experiences. We must more importantly be resolute in listening to the experiences of others so that we may learn to mimic and improve upon their success or learn from their failures. Simply put, we must remain resolute in learning for that is the only way we will truly better ourselves. So cherish the one's around, cherish the one's that were, and cherish the one's that will be. For they are your knowledge, they are your support group, they are your mistakes, they are your successes, they are your lessons learned, they will forever remain what makes up you, and you are just as important to them. 

Reflection

Trying to dig deeper into the peer culture and into peer based learning/connected learning by going beyond the fact that we do learn a great deal of knowledge from others but that we need to learn a great deal of knowledge from others. That it is essential. Systematically everything we've ever done as a person in this society is based on the knowledge given to you by someone else. Even in the most organic and original ideas that may have came to you individually, they were somewhere somehow built upon by others.

I thought a new year's toast, or speech, would be a good way of capturing this idea because of the whole resolution concept. For instance with the whole cliche' being a more active physically fit person resolution everyone chalks up on their list on January first. It's a pre-constructed idea that a lot of people have around that time of year. You get it from your peers. You know by example of yourself and others (your peers) that bad foods (food you learned was bad from your peers) will not lead you to this goal and that exercise (exercises you learned from others/peers) will lead you to your goals. 

This shows us that peer based learning is not only in school but is in all aspects of life. It shouldn't just be cultivated in school but should be cultivated everywhere. Which is a funny statement in itself because everything we know or learn was conceived by the thoughts of others. Which is why I think we should embrace the whole connected learning ideology just because of how natural it is.

I'm really proud of my closing statement in this speech. "Simply put, we must remain resolute in learning for that is the only way we will truly better ourselves. So cherish the one's around, cherish the one's that were, and cherish the one's that will be. For they are your knowledge, they are your support group, they are your mistakes, they are your successes, they are your lessons learned, they will forever remain what makes up you, and you are just as important to them." It is saying just how connected we are and how important it is to remain open-minded and observant to others. That we are important and that everybody is important to us in some way shape or form. Even if you strongly dislike someone(hate) and think their opinions or knowledge is wrong, it is still a basis of knowledge for you to build upon, and becomes a viewpoint for you on how not to be.