It has been an exceptionally busy period since January, but at the same time, both productive and enjoyable.
What truly brightens my heart now is a bouquet of roses and sunflowers I received from my students after our final class, accompanied by a beautiful message card. On the day I received the flowers, they were still in bud, with the sunflowers carefully wrapped in protective mesh. Each day they bloom a little more, and they will be in full bloom next week.
I placed the flowers and the card in my office, beside my desk. In that moment, it felt as though all the exhaustion of the past year had simply melted away, replaced by a profound sense that my work had been meaningfully rewarded. The flowers remind me of my students’ smiling faces and lift my spirits each time I see them. I cannot express how happy I feel to have taught such a wonderful class, to have witnessed my students’ growth, and to have grown as a teacher.
Quiet achievements
The first half of this year has been particularly special. I feel both humbled and deeply grateful for the opportunity to have published two works.
In February, the edited volume Pandemic and Crisis Discourse, for which I am a co-editor and contributor, was published. This book represents two years of writing and editing, and it was immensely rewarding to see our collective efforts come together into such a meaningful project.
Another small miracle in February was signing a contract to publish my first single-authored monograph, Patient-centred Communication: Discourse of In-home Medical Consultations for Older Adults. The book is due to be published in August as part of the series I had hoped for while drafting the proposal. The monograph is based on the PhD thesis I submitted in October 2020, but over the past year, I have made extensive revisions and rewritten many sections to update the work. I have re-read the manuscript countless times, and it has been fascinating to observe how the content has gradually been reshaped. When people ask how long it took to write the book, my short answer is “six years”. Both the book and I went through many stages before it finally reached completion.
My research activities continue steadily. Life at present is very much centred on work, and nothing particularly dramatic has changed on a personal level. For now, I hope to focus on doing one small thing at a time. My plan for July is to cook healthy meals, make pancakes at weekends, and enjoy some summer reading.
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