While no one can know exactly what the next year will bring, we believe in the resiliency and power of our students and members. This blog series will highlight some of their personal accomplishments, new Vista opportunities and events that focus on Personal Development, one of Vista's core values.
Earlier in this series, we shared some of our members' goals from the Connect Day Program goal-setting group (click here to read more). Similarly, students in Vista's Discover Program have been working on Personal Development and Excellence (a core value of the Vista community) by creating a 6-month time capsule filled with their goals and predictions.
The group started with students discussing the concept of excellence and how to work towards it. Margaret, one of the students participating, described how hard you must work for it: "You don't want to give up on something until you've reached excellence."
6-month time capsule filled with Vista Discover students' goals and predictions
Students then chose one goal to write on a slip of paper to add to the time capsule. A few of the goals were:
- Gain greater independence with medication management
- Become a "Blue Mentor," someone who can teach and support other Vista students when out in the community
- Be more positive and find ways to navigate feeling frustrated
- Prepare for an employment internship
- Take actions to support living independently in their own home
In addition, students also added 6-month predictions to the capsule. One prediction was about the total amount of snow that we would receive this year. Taylor guessed 6 inches based on the warm weather we had early in the winter season, while Tyler predicted that we would get a total of 40 inches. Given the weather over the last few weeks, Tyler may have been on the right track - we will see!
Chris and Louisa submitting their goals into the time capsule
The group also guessed what the temperature will be on July 15, 2021 at 4:30 PM, which is when the time capsule will be opened. Louisa and David expect it to be a hot one; they each predicted a high of over 90 degrees!
We look forward to sharing with you how accurate their predictions were when the time capsule is opened!
What are your plans for the first half of 2021? We hope our students' goals and predictions will inspire you as we keep moving forward into this new year!
More to come!