Nadeen Matthews Blair
On January 1, 2020, I wrote an Instagram post reflecting on the previous decade and closed by saying, “I am walking into 2020 not knowing the path but with confidence that it will be AMAZING”. The Oxford dictionary defines amazing as “causing great surprise or wonder.” While a pandemic was not necessarily the type of amazing I was predicting or hoping for, the word aptly describes 2020 so far... a year filled with great surprise and wonder. I continue to pray for an end to the loss of lives and livelihoods, and I am deliberately dwelling in a space of gratitude for my blessings and some of the enduring shifts ushered in by this pandemic.
Let me declare up front that I am a digital transformation enthusiast. I firmly believe that education and digital technology combined are the new great equalisers and create the best opportunity for Jamaica to leap-frog its emerging market status and become a world-class economy. I long for this day and have become an even more active participant in making it happen since the pandemic.
With that context, I share the following blessings and enduring shifts for which I am grateful:
1) Access to global conferences and training without travel. There’s never been a better time to level up.
2) Ability to connect more regularly via Zoom calls with loved ones, classmates, sorority sisters whom I normally only see at planned reunions
3)Acceleration of the equipping of Jamaica’s students with electronic devices and data thanks to the MOEYI’S “A Device Per Child” initiative supported by partners such as the NCB Foundation, PSOJ and Jamaica Social Stock Exchange
4) Increased adoption of e-commerce solutions by local entrepreneurs which allows them to sell their products 24/7 locally and globally
5) Regular family and date nights thanks to a dearth of competing social priorities
6) More kindness — with everyone struggling with something, we’ve resurrected kindness and humanity in the way we live and work. This is a muchappreciated awakening and reset.
I am approaching 2021 with gratitude for the lessons, the experiences, and the changes, and with curiosity around what else is in store. In the meantime, stay safe, Jamaica. One love.