Valerie Alexander - How to Recharge and Refresh for an Unprecedented Fall Semester

The past year brought an educational landscape and challenges the likes of which educators have never encountered. That means that, in addition to the normal wear and tear of a year spent at the front of a classroom of head of a district, many educators are more worn down than usual as summer draws on.

However, there’s no slowing down now. The fall semester promises even more firsts and another unique experience, and it’s critical that educators use this summer break to find contentment, happiness and a chance to recharge.

Change Starts Here host Dustin Odham got some help in this task from guest Valerie Alexander, a world-renowned author and speaker and expert on happiness and inclusion.

She has authored “Happiness as a Second Language” and several other popular books on happiness and success, and she is a globally recognized speaker on the topics of happiness in the workplace, unconscious bias and the advancement of women.

The most challenging thing about being happy, perhaps, is that it isn’t our first language –at least for many of us. It takes many conscious decisions to work toward happiness, just as it does to achieve anything else.

“If you grow up in a house where nobody spoke Greek, you wouldn’t expect to wake up one day and just start speaking Greek,” Alexander said. “But, if you wanted to learn Greek, you could do it.”