As I reflect on 2011, I think of everything I have accomplished and all the events that, in some way, effected my life.
Perhaps the most important development of 2011 was beginning my second, and final, year of grad school. To day I have written 3/4 of a thesis and am looking forward to my final semester as a student. The real work awaits.
While I may live in Virginia, one event that greatly effected me this past year was the May 22 tornado in Joplin, Missouri. I have spent a great deal of time in Joplin and even completed my undergraduate career in Joplin at MSSU. The tornado destroyed many familier landmarks and took the lives of 162 people. One of those lost in tornado was a former professor, Dr. José Alvarez. He will be missed by all those who were able to spend a semester in his classroom.
Of course, there were the countless national stories that made headlines that I will not go into. There are a few that had an impact on me, however. The first was the death of Steve Jobs. I am an Apple fan and its charismatic leader, but the loss of that leader was a blow to the Apple community. Only time will tell how new CEO Tim Cook will handle his new position. In addition, the release of Walter Isaacson’s book Steve Jobs revealed details of his life and his success.
One of the other stories that has gotten more attention, more recently, is the collapse of Saab. Saab was released by General Motors in 2010 and since then, the company has struggled to find backers. Even when backers were found, GM refused the deal, fearing competition from Saab. It still disgusts me that GM, the company that begged for federal bailouts and yet still went bankrupt, can be so bigoted.
Perhaps one of the most important changes in 2011 was to this blog. In 2011, I wanted to take this blog to the next level and so I changed its name in June. However, the name change did not fit and I changed the name and design yet again in October. Somehow, Whole Earth Blog fits.
This past year was very eventful. There is so much more I could have written about, but I will leave it up to you to search online for a listing of the various important events of 2011. For me, the most important thing has been continuing my education and inching ever closer to my Master’s Degree, but that is something that will happen in 2012.
