2026 has arrived, and my winter break is coming to an end.  Every December is a time of reflection for me as the work winds down, the holidays arrive, my birthday happens, and another year is put into the history books. I still go through the three word exercise, but don’t always share it publicly anymore. I find the exercise more potent than the explanation, and we each need to find out what works best for us. Especially in these dark and dangerous times. Last year, I chose to focus primarily on my students. A lot is going on around me, and after years of actively trying to change things, I decided I’d narrow my focus so that every day I’d be working to improve what I could control. It helped keep me sane through a lot of turmoil, and while it wasn’t easy for me to ignore so many things, I did better than I thought. This is my last semester with required weekly meetings with my Posse . I don’t know where the time has gone, but these ten young men and women mean the world to me.…