Welcome 2021: Stop, Start, Continue

By Heather Watts, Shamim Ahmed, and Kaitlyn Corlett

Midnight has struck, the ball has dropped, and we are well into a new year, and a new decade. While 2020 certainly challenged us (to put it lightly), we have learned a lot about ourselves and our world. The rhetoric around welcoming a new year usually surrounds what we need to improve upon; what we need to start doing more of in our lives to grow our success.  It is important not only to think through habits and practices we want to shed as we step into the new year, habits and practices we want to take up or start, but also honour what has sustained us and what has served us well. We, at the Redefining Traditional Team invite you to re-think your approach to a New Year’s Resolution, and reflect on what you want to stop, what you want to start, and what you want to continue. 

What my Son Thinks About His Mom Being a Student

By Heather Watts

It feels like I have been in graduate school for quite some time. I can remember crossing the stage at my commencement from Columbia University Teachers College back in 2014. I was graduating with my first master’s degree, in Literacy Instruction. I was four months pregnant, and with a growing baby in my belly, was filled with excitement, wondering what opportunities were ahead for us. 

Fast forward four years and that growing baby was now a growing toddler, and we found ourselves at yet another higher education institution as I was working toward my second master’s degree. We made some big changes to be at Harvard. We sold our house in New York State to move to Massachusetts for a one-year program, and my mom even moved with us to help care for my son, Nico. He was not of school age and daycare costs were outrageous; we were so grateful to have my mom living with us during this time. 

A collage of images of Heather Watts graduating from her first two degrees, and a final image of her and Nico playing in the leaves outside.

There’s something you should know about me – I love getting involved, in clubs, causes, work, everything. I’ve always had a tough time saying no to an opportunity as I want to be involved in impact work and love learning from team environments. During my time at Harvard, I was a full-time student, Equity & Inclusion Fellow, co-chair of an Indigenous student organization (shoutout to FIERCE!), worked as a Research Assistant, Social Media Manager, and Curriculum Designer. Like I said, I LOVE being involved and hadn’t learned a lot about the concept of overextending oneself. Something I constantly struggled with was this question: 

Am I a bad parent when I choose school instead family time? 

The Conversation That We Need to Have

By Shamim Ahmed

Shamim speaking at a webinar or talk. Is wearing a deep blue shirt and using hand gestures to convey a message.
Shamim Ahmed – Design Researcher

I was sitting on the couch, reading a popular “Bengali”[1] fiction, and all of a sudden heard my daughter mumbling “brutal”. I looked at her once, and again went back to my reading when I heard her infuriatingly saying “that’s totally unacceptable”. I took a pause from my reading, sat back properly, looked at the television and saw that horrid image of a policeman sitting on the road with his knee placed firmly on a person’s neck with a stone face. I was a little startled whether my 12-years old daughter should be watching this, but then she left on her own without saying much. I inquisitively continued to watch the news and came to know about the horrific act of killing George Floyd, a 46-year-old black American, during an arrest for allegedly using a counterfeit bill. To be frank, I came to know about the allegation at least two weeks after the killing, as I was not curious about the reason why a person could be killed so brutally. I had no idea why a person should be treated so inhumanely as if he was not a living object. I was shocked. 

How to Talk to Your Kids About Racism

By Amanda Cheung
Originally published on the University of Toronto’s Family Care Office Blog, Intersections.

Family reading a story book with their young child.

Race is a complex but necessary topic we should be considering to discuss in our homes, and especially with our children. We know that many families are beginning to have these difficult conversations with their kids. The Family Care Office has compiled a list of resources to help support discussions about race and equality with young people.