I hope your holidays were peaceful and relaxing.

It was my first Christmas in the province in more than 50 years and the pandemic changed some of my plans, like it did for us all.

One great thing I did was drive to Port de Grave to take in the Christmas lights and the massive crab pot tree – amazing!

I returned from the break energized and ready to take on the winter semester. I hope you are, too.

If you can be one thing, be kind

Things are looking up: Days are getting longer.

The vaccine roll-out has begun. Most staff will be back on campus soon.

I can’t wait to meet more of you in person as we plan for students’ eventual return.

It will still be a challenging semester. For some, remote teaching and learning hasn’t been easy.

But you’ve shown your resilience and determination during the past 10 months and, working together, we’ll make sure this is a successful semester for us all.

I encourage everyone to continue to be understanding, patient and accommodating.

Take time for yourself and give time to others. If you can be one thing, be kind.