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“Teaching is the art of changing lives.”Happy Teacher's Day to everyone!

Staring at the screen before me, endlessly morphing faces and changing voices, it kept me there, transfixed into a deep lul, neither growing nor regressing, a perfect channel filled with nothing in an empty package. I was still, my spirit was still, filled with static, calm without peace. A notification popped up on my phone as if it were to interrupt this stillness. A coworker of mine was invited to go rock climbing with some acquaintances, and he did not want to be among too unfamiliar a company, so he extended the invitation to me. I became an unwitting participant. Staring at the 15-foot wall, I decided to go forward, scaling a more difficult route, and I began by placing my feet on the proper holds, both hands where they were meant to be. One step at a time, reaching for what's just barely in my reach. Placing my right foot on the hold that was between my knees. Grabbing that U-shaped rock by stretching my body to its limit. Bringing myself up, until the final rocks of the route are at my hand. Looking down, bracing myself for the fall, and letting go. A fall, cushioned, a surreal feeling washed over me, in spite of my tired body, my mind was more than ready to tackle the next route. Hours later my body could barely move, even forming a closed fist was difficult, and when forced, painful. This pain couldn't even bother me, and as I left the bouldering wall, and went home I decided to do something more with my time. I had come to the realization, a simple one, yet one that rarely presents itself, the viability of failure. I didn't succeed every time I tackled a new route, sometimes falling midway, sometimes right at the beginning. I could feel myself becoming discouraged at times, but that feeling was supplemented with determination. The determination to eventually conquer that wall, and move on to the next one. I had come to realize that in my own life, I had come to forgo those difficult walls, the hard problems that life gives you. I grew discouraged by the initial failings, while at the same time envying those who had seemed to naturally excel. Only by falling again and again, and seeing others fall with me, did I realize there was not a single person who was the best from the beginning, we all learn from our falls more than our rises. The line that divides the competent from the incompetent is if we rise back up after we fall. I remember the first time I tried to play the piano, and considering I was only at the tender age of 7, you can only imagine the beautiful melodies I produced, which is to say, none. I stopped playing after the first time I touched the keys, yet years later, I decided it was an appropriate time to start playing again. I had no nuance, no accents, nothing to speak of, I fell over and over, stumbling upon the keys, yet it was when I struggled past my failings that I began to truly learn. That's when we learn, when we accept our failures and move past them, to gleam lessons from our falls and use them to climb just a little bit higher than before, one step at a time, one outstretched hand at a time, and one note at a time. Failures cannot define us, it is what we do with them that becomes us.

I will never forget the 100 guppy fish that lay beneath the soil of my childhood home. 100 guppy fish who came to their demise due to the innocent act of changing the temperature of the water in the tank. 100 guppy fish that lost their lives to the woman with blond hair and blue eyes, 5'3”, and a heart that holds the weight of the world. But do not fear, the perpetrator responsible for this crime organized separate funerals for all 100 of these tiny silverfish, all the while helping my sister and I find a special place to bury them all. Not only did she lead the burial service, she also made hot chocolate after the burial to help any feelings of grief fade away with each sip. Indeed I am the daughter of the said perpetrator. Growing up, my family and friends would echo the words, “Your mom is perfect, you must have learned everything you know from her.” I smile when they tell me this, usually responding with the words, “I know” or “You're right”. Admittedly, my mind wanders back to the guppy incident that happened so many years ago. This is not to say that I do not acknowledge my mother's many magnificent qualities. Like the way, she lights up a room with her smile, or her daring sense of adventure, always trying to find a way to make anything happen. I could talk about how her charming personality attracts strangers in grocery stores to come over just to say hello, or confide in her with their personal life experiences as she loads her cart with frozen vegetables. I could talk about how she embarked on a cross-country journey with a stranger. Driving from Boston Massachusetts to Arizona to pursue her passion for art. I could talk about how she is a published children's book author-illustrator who has an undying love for anthropomorphic animals. And though these things are true, I refuse to forget the moment innocent fish perished years ago, and the funeral we had for them. The 100 guppy fish we obtained when I was only 6 years old. Because if I were to forget about the guppies, I would forget about the way I watched her set up a nursery for all the newborn fish because she knew how excited her daughters would be to see the newborns. I would forget the way she held me when I got out of school after she broke the bad news, that she had accidentally changed the temperature of the water in the tank a few degrees to warm. I would forget about the trip to pet smart that occurred soon after the burial, telling my dad not to worry we are just going to “look” at the hamsters, and I would forget about the hamsters that were purchased later that day. I can't forget about the guppy fish because I can't forget any memories I have with my mom. As I am sure, anyone who meets her would hate to forget the woman who only eats the sugary tops of baked muffins. The woman is from the east coast but is bundled in a jacket and gloves anytime the weather hits below 70 degrees. The woman who knows what it is like to grow up with nothing but so willingly gives everything. The woman who doesn't let me forget about the guppies because, truly, there is light in every moment in life. So in turn, I am proud to be the daughter of the perpetrator of the mass murder of guppy fish. I am proud that I do not do well with the cold and enjoy eating the sugary tops of baked muffins. I am proud that she has come to success in writing and illustrating children's books. But I am even more proud that she creates a space where anyone can come to feel at peace. A place where friends, family, and strangers come to feel at home. A place where friends come up to me and ask to come over because my house is a place of acceptance. I have found “perfect” is perhaps not the right word, and also, I have come to realize that I wouldn't want it to be. I mean perfect doesn't come with mud pies, massive pillow forts, or star gazing on the hood of the car in the driveway. Perfect doesn't come with unexplainable tears that you just can't seem to stop, and perfect certainly doesn't come with the burial of 100 guppy fish. But I couldn't be prouder of the perfectly imperfect world she has created for me. So, I would like to thank the perpetrator for giving me a home with walls I can draw on and carpeted floors so that when I trip over my feet, it's soft when I land. Most importantly, I would like to thank her for teaching me how to make gravestones. A simple rock with a smooth face inscribed with one word serves as a reminder to remember. I would like to thank her for, after every imperfection, she would remind me that it is just another rock I can write on. Taking the hurt to the grave but never losing sight of what it taught me. These gravestones act as pillars showing me how much I have grown. They resemble the strength she has embedded in me from a young age to overcome life's imperfections. Because of my mom, I am able to stand with about a thousand gravestones. Because of my mom, I chose not to forget but instead cherish the imperfect.

I would like to take this opportunity right here, right now, to show my immense appreciation and gratitude to teachers. You do what I cannot do. You have the patience that I will never have. You amaze me every day. Teachers, I love you. And I respect you. Will you marry me? I'll do anything, if you'll only promise to never leave me again. School is a point of contention in our household. I love it, my husband loves it, my daughter likes it occasionally, and my son hates it. I can't say that I blame him either. He has ADHD and is the square peg trying to fit into the round hole when it comes to getting along at school. In the couple months leading up to spring break 2020, he was completely unable to be in his classroom all day. I would get phone calls from the school telling me that he was hanging out in the hallway with the Education Assistant because the class was too distracting. We toyed with the idea of homeschooling him. But after a trial period of about 5 days where we brought him home at midday, we realised that we didn't have the stamina for it. He asks a lot of fucking questions. They come rapid-fire, like bullets out of a semi-automatic, and he doesn't wait for the answer to the first one before asking the next twelve. The vast majority of them are obscure, or require a PhD in something like mechanical, aeronautical, or medical engineering. Despite our best efforts, he wasn't interested in going on hikes or bike rides, or doing any at-home learning. He just wanted to watch tv and play Minecraft. In the end, we worked to get him back to school for full days and agreed that we would not be bringing up homeschooling again. Ever. Obviously we all know how that turned out when lockdown rolled around. Can we just agree that there are certain things that you need an actual human in front of you for? Yes, we have amazing technology at our disposal. Yes, it has opened up the world and made things possible that were previously impossible. But as a species, we have not yet evolved past the need for human connection. The in-person kind (I can't even believe I have to specify that.) We'll know when we've evolved past it because we won't ever feel lonely. In fact, we probably won't feel anything at all. We won't feel an urge to fall in love, or have sex, or make a real friend. Until that day, a day that I hope never comes for mankind, we still need each other: not virtually, but physically. Which is why this whole virtual schooling thing is not going to work. The platform our school is using for online learning is meant for adults, therefore it has a chat box as well as the video function. At any point, students with unlimited access to their technology and minimal parent supervision can contact their teachers day and night. And they have. At all hours of the night. The school has sent out numerous emails to the parents asking them to get a handle on their kids so they don't interrupt the private lives of their teachers. It's been a disaster. But that doesn't even begin to describe the online learning portion. Each day the class has a morning meeting from 09:30-09:50. It goes a little like this: “Good morning Tiana…good morning Tiana…can you unmute yourself please? Tiana? Please can you unmute yourself? Okay I think there's an issue there, good morning Rashid, can you mute your mic please, there's too much noise in the background. I need those students that are currently using the chat box to post memes and videos to please stop because it's distracting.” That carries on for a few minutes. Then the teacher says, “Okay so now that everyone is here, we're going to do our greeting chain.” The first time I heard that, I thought, surely there must be a mistake. She just greeted everyone, didn't she? But alas, they must now greet each other. The greeting chain has a theme based on the first letter of the day of the week, such as “Wine Guzzling Wednesday” or “Fuck This Pandemic Friday.” Its success was dependent entirely on the students' level of interest (somewhere in the negative numbers for my son) and willingness to participate. While I think the exercise was an unprecedented waste of time and resources, I found plenty to be amused by. My personal favourite was when the class was playing 20 questions. The teacher held up a paper bag and asked everyone to guess what was inside. After about 47 questions, the kids had it pinned down as a food item and proceeded to list off every variety of orange they could think of. Kid: Is it an orange? Teacher: It is not an orange. Kid: Is it a clementine? Teacher: It is not a clementine. It's not an orange. Kid:…Is it a mandarin? Teacher: O.K. you guys, it's not an orange. Kid: Is it a blood orange? Teacher: *exasperated* It is NOT an orange. Kid: Is it a tangerine? Teacher: IT'S A BAGEL. A BAGEL! IT'S A BAGEL! NOT AN ORANGE! A BAGEL! AND NOW IT'S COLD! *sigh* Lets work on multiplication now.

What is the Lesson? I have always looked for lessons in everything because I know there is one. Quarantine started on March 16, 2020, for most of us. Everything was closed, shut down, and put on pause. It felt like our world was shattering, and during this pandemic storm, a tornado formed with pieces of our life, creating a trail of sorrow in our path. It started with my grandfather becoming bed ridden after a stroke he had earlier in the year. He obtained a bad case of pneumonia and his health deteriorated drastically. During a safe visit with my grandparents, my daughter and her brother went outside to play tag. The driveway was slick and sent my daughter sliding fast where she landed on her knee and cut it to the bone. Despite the risks, I rushed her to the E.R. where she received 11 stitches. As the tornado of life slashed through without ease, I watched my family pull together despite feeling conflicted no matter which way we turned. We were terrified deep within because the world was in a state of emergency. But, we held onto what we knew, and that was the love of our family. The world can't take that away. So, we held onto each other and made the most of each day. Not long after, schools canceled for the remainder of the year, leaving all kids homeschooled. Since schools and social gatherings had been stopped, all of my daughter's dance competitions (already paid for) were canceled until further notice. As if the rain couldn't give us a little sunshine in our path, our dog of six years, Bailey, got into poison from somewhere in the neighborhood and the vet couldn't save her. We had to say good-bye. Then, one evening after dinner, we were entertaining who could jump the highest on our trampoline and I came straight down as my ankle rolled underneath my body weight. To this day I do not know if it was broken, sprained, or fractured. I never went to the Doctor. And to top it all off, on Easter, several real tornadoes hit all around us. We were extremely fortunate and lost power for four days and counted our blessings for that. Using a generator, we managed to save some food and use lights in the house as well as help our neighbors with power. The schoolwork was put on hold unless we used a hot spot from our cellular devices. Here I am two years later looking back on all of these things that happened but remembering the precious times with my children and loved ones. Times that I hope they remember too. It is during these times of trial that we find our strength by lifting others. I am grateful for each of these events because it instilled some of the most beautiful memories and lessons during one of the most terrifying times. None of us knew what was to come, but we took one day at a time and made it an adventure every day. Each one of the “fortunate events” led to something amazing. When my daughter was hurt, she couldn't have danced, so the competitions being canceled was a blessing in disguise. Because our lives were put on hold, we had gained the most precious time with my grandfather before he passed away peacefully over the summer. We can never get that time back and for those moments of life on hold, I am thankful. My ankle healed, like all things do with time. Though Bailey's death was an experience filled with sadness and sorrow, we were given more time with her, and I know she knew how much she was loved. Sharing emotions together is a beautiful experience. Homeschooling the kids was a challenge, and I know others out there can relate. I kept them on a schedule because I know how important that is. I also made sure to sit with them and give them my undivided attention, making that my priority. I heard them when they would tell me, “My teacher doesn't do it like that,” or “I don't want to do this!” Even when they asked me, “Why do I have to get up early? None of my friends do this.” I understood. Listen to me. I will never give up on you, children, and you cannot give up on yourself. Never be a victim of your circumstance. Taking Time Is Okay Some of the most beautiful memories are created during the hardest times, and sometimes, the depths of our sorrow can create a beautiful world of happiness.

Today has been a good day. Today I was able to practice some instruments and gain new insights on the piano and guitar. These have been new details that have helped my brain really enjoy picking up a musical instrument. I cant even believe some of the sounds that are coming out of the instruments I play! and I'm not even that good! haha its been fun and yea, I have a smile on my face. Hopefully I will be-able to upload a few videos soon.

The pandemic is outstretched and touched every country around the world. We have experienced a never before way of life.Governments had declared lockdowns to contain the spread of the virus.Even though,the lockdown is being lifted with certain restrictions,we prefer being indoors–since that's the best way to stay safe and no cure for the virus has been found. For me, staying indoors seemed quite alien.Hustling through each day, meeting deadlines,meeting clients- was how my everyday looked. Weekends were generally spent running household errands,spending time with family,meeting friends, movie dates, weekend trips etc. The organization I work for didn't have a Work From Home ('WFH') policy. Working remotely didn't seem to be an option until we were forced to do so. With the lockdown first being imposed for three weeks, it seemed to be fun!Like yes, WFH was happening - until reality hit! Due the lockdown,everybody (the entire family)was confined at home, movements restricted (we were allowed to leave home only for essentials). So now, 24X7 we were imprisoned within our homes–doing the household chores, fulfilling office duties, exercising, watching TV series, taking instagram challenges! Slowly, three weeks turned into months . Despite the lockdown, the number of corona cases were on a rise & extending the lockdown wasn't an option. The effects of the lockdown were visible–people were loosing their jobs & unemployment was on a rise, the lower income group were hard pressed for essentials & above all the economy was crippling. On a personal front, WFH was becoming daunting. Extended work hours, unending household chores, depressing news only lead to increased stress and anxiety. Phew! Now we were tired. So many questions and no answers - When and how would all this get over?Will it even get over ?Would WFH be the new normal?When would we travel? I could feel a silent pressure building on me & had begun to overthink. With nowhere to go & so much to do–I realised all that I could do is to to make peace with the situation and live everyday & let go of what I couldn't change. Letting go for me was a big challenge But yes, it had to be done. But how? Firstly,I had to change my way of thinking and let go of how situations should be and accept how they are.I had to be right here in the present moment.But again, how do I do that? I started reading to look for answers.Here's what I found: 1.Happiness isn't something you find outside yourself but within yourself, create for yourself. We humans confuse material things with happiness – “Oh! I'll be happy if I travel to Spain next summer” or “eating pizza in that restaurant makes me really happy” and the list can be endless.Happiness isn't the byproduct of something,if something/someone is the basis of your happiness,you'd never be happy.Embrace whatever you have – like it is a gift to you. 2.Get up in morning,get ready, not to impress anybody else, but yourself. Give yourself the credit for your little achievements. Don't seek validation from anybody.You are your first priority & your best friend & worst enemy. 3.Enjoy the little things you do with your family–eating meals together, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, cooking etc. Having somebody to rely on and confide in is a blessing. 4.Exercise everyday, take care of yourself, eat healthy and nutritious food. Attend to yourself religiously, like you would attend to your family, friends, work. 5.There is a positive in everything that happens. Respond to situations and not react. Being nice to people when they are rude to you is strength and not weakness. How did I imbibe what I learnt– 1.I try to contribute & support with the household chores and errands to the extent possible. Many times,I don't feel like doing these, but, the mind needs to be persuaded. 2.I miss eating outside–but I'm grateful for food on my table & I have never missed a meal. 3.Disagreements within the family will always happen since everyone has a different perception of things. But we need to respect each others decision and live in harmony. 4.With a drop in pollution levels, nature is at it's best.Birds are chirping and the skies are clear. The empty roads with trees alongside and colorful flowers scattered were a sight to behold. COVID taught us–when humans disrespect nature, nature will surely come back to us & there isn't a better testimony to it. 5.With unemployment levels rising, I'm grateful for having a job. Given an opportunity to work,is a privilege and not to be taken for granted. These are but small things and we don't need a pandemic to learn them. Happiness comes in simpler things.Unlearning old ways to isn't easy – but once life lessons are learnt,these are here to stay forever. To quote Albert Einstein “In the midst of every crises, lies great opportunity.” Human spirit is indomitable & in times of crises we rise to the occasion and bounce back with renewed vigor & better wisdom.

Many scholars had anticipated this thing to happen but it was unknown that it would happen so soon. Yes a small in fact a very small virus called the corona virus/ Covid-19 has taken over the lives of all the people in the world. It has made people doubt on the medical facilities of even the most developed countries of the world. The virus has taken over the daily lives of people, people have started considering even a small gathering which was such a normal thing for the people being the "Social Animals". Like other people in the world this crisis has also affected my life as a student. I was preparing for my 12th board exam and had just 2 weeks left for the preparation when the government announced the nation wide lock-down and as a result my exams were cancelled. WHO had listed our country as one of the most highly vulnerable one to this crisis as our country is the neighboring country of the origin of this virus "China". When I heard that news I was pretty scared my family and mostly for my grandparents who were living with us. Our government had announced lock-down when the total infected people in our country were only three people and one of them had already recovered so this virus thing was in control in our country for a long time. Like other countries this crisis had also affected my country a lot. Most of the people were jobless which increased the responsibility of the government and our country being a poor one economically, was supporting the citizens by taking grants form other countries. There was acute crisis of the necessities like clinical masks, testing kits and PPEs in our country which surely made the front line workers much more vulnerable. Like most of the people in the world my life was also affected by this crisis. My father being a struggling businessman this crisis had affected us economically . He was always telling us that he could handle it but we knew how hard it was for him. As I was waiting for my exams and all my courses were completed in high school unlike my siblings I had no online classes. As I was not busy unlike other times I decided to work on myself both physically and mentally. I decided to work on my fitness as I had been ignoring it for a long time and it was the best time to improve my immunity level. I used to do meditation early in the morning which could improve my concentration and would do some exercises in the afternoon to keep myself active. I got a chance to discover my interest in gardening as I would get involved in planting flowers and vegetable in the garden with my father. I also engaged myself in something that gives me satisfaction that is painting. I tried different recipes form you tube and impressed my family members with my new discovered talent. As I was working on my development as a better person, my country was also doing a lot better than before. Before this crisis my country depended on other countries for the basic requirements like sanitizers and masks but as the import of good had decreased our country had started producing many things by its own which had made us believe in the power of unity as it was only possible when there was a proper understanding between the government and the citizens of the country. This crisis had made me believe that human beings were actually the social animals and it was the busy lifestyle of the people that was responsible for the increasing space and lack of understanding between the people. I was seeing a great example of the saying that "Team work make the dream work" in my own community as all the people were free form there busy lifestyle they were more concern about the environment they were living in. The people of our community were more interested about making the surrounding beautiful , with the help of the neighbors people were cleaning up the surrounding, planting trees and what not. There was an amazing sense of cooperation and understanding between the people which had never been seen before. Although all the people were free form there busy lifestyle but we could not go places to enjoy or go out for eating and we had to be very careful in every activity that we did outside the house. Social distancing was demanded form us by this virus and being a part of a social community it was hard for all the people to follow this rule in the beginning but it slowly built in us like a habit. The people working for the development of vaccine still say that it will take more time and our country being an underdeveloped one I can surely say that it will take much more time for our country to receive it until then the best alternative for us as a responsible citizen is to control its spreading by following social distancing and proper sanitation. Although this crisis had a huge impact on the whole world surely say that it was an opportunity for each and every people to know that there existence is the most uncertain thing and every person should live there life to the fullest everyday.

I did not speak a word of english until I turned 10 years old.That too, I started with basic english sentences such as: "This is a boy, This is an apple, I love apples, This is a cat, This is a dog, A dog has a tail.” These were very basic english sentences. English was not my primary language but when I came to America, I was an adult. By this time I had learnt to communicate in basic english language, but any time I had to express something complicated, I would fumble or become silent. People are very forgiving in the U.S. They always helped, tried their best to not let me feel embarrassed. I concluded that there is no short-cut to solve this problem. I learnt that writing will help me improve my english language learning. I started writing more . Very soon I started to love writing. I was able to express myself and my thoughts in my writing. Writing turned out to pay off a lot. When I wrote, I had enough time to process my thoughts and express them on the paper. I still had a very thick accent. Accents tell you which country you are born in. Beyond country and region, accent also tells us a lot about which social class a person grew up in, their level of education.This can represent a strong bond. I consciously started working on improving my accent.It was my conscious choice to shift my accent towards American english. I wanted to be in the position, where I travel from one end of America to another end, and pass the accent test with as little sniffs as possible. Along the journey of correcting my American accent, I used to listen to the radio a lot. When I am cooking, cleaning, exercising, the radio is always on. Over a few months, I realized that I have improved a lot. I was passively grasping a lot of understanding in dialogue delivery. I can now communicate in a more colloquial way. The more I listened to the podcast, the more I would find flaws in my english speaking skills. I figured, what I was doing was not enough. In the meantime, every now and then I would get that disapproving look because of my accent. I still did not have the neutral American accent, and it caused unhappiness inside my heart. I wanted to sound obvious, so people could recognize me without an effort. I was lagging, but I was still not disheartened. My next strategy was to repeat after the radio hosts. Word by word; sentence by sentence. It was very tiring. I wanted to be the same way as I was. I wanted to just chill and relax without worrying , “what will people think?” Every night in the dark it felt so gloomy and depressing, but thankfully every morning, I would have my confidence back. After 10 months of continuous repetition and practice, it started to show the result. I felt more confident speaking to people.The fear and thought that someone is judging me became less everyday. Now I don't have trouble ordering food in restaurants. I can order exactly what I want. Every now and then I would have the classic set-backs. Accents are a point of connection, and connecting to people was very important to me. Not only me, but all of us are constantly influenced by the people we are surrounded with and that extends to accents too -- any Indian who has moved to America will hear from their own people that they have gone very stylish in their accent, even though they would themselves do the same thing. Even though it happens subconsciously when you intend to change your accent, I have not found anything this difficult to change on purpose. Some Days I have good learning experiences and some days are very bad. I still remember a story where I went to order a salad plate, and I wanted to add Ranch dressing, but I was not clear enough because of my accent. The waiter was too hesitant to ask me again and I realized that I am not saying it right.I finally got the dressing which I did not want, because the waiter had to guess and add something else. When I was in public talking to my friends, I would not hesitate accepting my thick accent flaw, and I would humbly ask them to correct me with the right pronunciation. Most of the time, someone would take super interest in correcting me, but at times I would also get that “look”. However I never mind constructive criticism but for sure these set-backs take you 2 steps backward, I had to remind myself, “I am learning, Mistake is a part of learning.” Now I am at the point, where people rarely guess what I just said. I never gave up. The fact that I was able to master something this hard, makes me proud of myself. I always remind myself, “if I can conquer this challenge, I can win any challenge in life.” I know, mentally it is more taxing to listen to someone with a foreign accent. People had to listen to me more closely to catch the underlying change in tones and stress. I still listen to podcasts and radio channels to constantly improve myself. Un-learning the accent or language you grew up with, is plain "hard", but now I believe you can do it.

Alice fiddled with the latch on her Coach key chain as she sat at her desk waiting for the phone to ring. Why she even bothered, was a whole other story. Of course no one was calling, it was 7 a.m. Everyone knew the corporate big wigs didn't roll out of their martini, steak and hooker fueled hangovers to lug their girth to work until at least 9 a.m. Plus, it was a Friday morning and everyone knew that Thursday nights were the new Saturdays. Still, she had to be there. She was the low girl on the totem pole in the sleek, shiny New Vision offices. Morning phone duty rotated once a month among the youngest assistants and even though she had some age on her colleagues, she was new at this job, having bounced around from temp agencies to sugar daddies throughout her twenties. Yawning loudly (because really, who was listening), she drained the last of her coffee. Last night was epic she thought, but having recently crested over the hill from 29 into 30 it was getting harder and harder to bounce back like she had in her younger years. Eyeing the empty coffee cup, her gaze wandered beyond her cubicle towards her manager's office and then down the hallway where the EVP of human resources enjoyed his pristine corner office digs. For once, she was not lusting after his river view. The break room was situated at the end of that hallway and she desperately craved another cup of coffee. Could she leave her post for no more than five minutes to brew some Green Mountain in the Keurig? It wasn't her grande-nonfat soy latte, but it would do the trick. Toying with the idea while absentmindedly twirling her frosted locks she attempted to distract herself from her exhaustion but it was too overwhelming. Glossing over the stacks of invoices waiting to be entered into a spreadsheet, she ignored the angel on her shoulder; that had morphed into the voice of her obnoxiously chipper millennial manager stressing just how important morning phone duty is. “The markets are open across the globe at all hours; it is pivotal that someone is there to field calls and direct any messages to the EVP as soon as possible...Your role, though small, keeps the company going…blah, blah, blah.” Looking at the devil and praying to the caffeine Gods she sprinted down the hallway. When she returned ten minutes later, having not anticipated a lack of non dairy milk products, she was already pondering her plans for that evening. It was only when she grabbed her phone to jump on Instagram that she noticed the red message light blinking aggressively on the master phone at her desk. She barely noticed as the coffee dripped over the invoices and down the edge of the table.