December 29, 2024

An end of the year reflection (2024 edition)

soy la misma newsletter

Hola, hola, hola! I hope you’ve had an incredible week filled with family, joy, and snow! New Year’s is creeping up, and I’m not sure I’m ready for the calendar to conclude with 25. Most years I journal about my hopes and goals for the new year but before I get down to business with my journal, I want to write a few reflections from this 2024 and share them with you all.

1. In January of 2024, I started off strong with a writer’s workshop with the Kenyon Review where I created new works of poetry (I’ll share one with you all at the end of this newsletter)! Unfortunately, I didn’t write as much as I would’ve wanted to. Grad school, teaching, and my project with the RSDP (Regional Sustainable Development Partnership) took much of my time. It was nice to place priority on my art, and I’m hoping to continue to do the same in 2025 but push it stronger in all the 12 months. Maybe I pitch to new publications, apply to writing workshops out of state, and/or just do more writing (“not all poetry is for publishing,” as Marlin M. Jenkins stated at the 2024 Kenyon Writing Winter Workshop).

   

2. I was invited to be a reviewer of the scholarship that changed my entire course at St. Kate’s. Not only did the Jay and Rose Phillips Scholarship help with my financial stress but it marked what would be the beginning of my future. Without hesitation I accepted the volunteer role of reviewing these year’s applications. It wasn’t as intense as I imagined it to be — truthfully, it was fun. I loved reading the stories that college student’s wrote and how their story connected to their passion project. I love, love, love being invited to support organization’s with these kinds opportunities, surprisingly, it happens more often outside of Worthington then inside town. 5 years later, I’m still wondering why that is. I’ve been wanting to find a way to support high school seniors and juniors to apply to scholarships and/or schools, but I haven’t had the capacity to do so, and honestly, I’m not sure I’d receive interest. Time will continue to tell…

   

3. We had an unexpected yet expected purchase of a beautiful home on the top of the hill of my childhood neighborhood. Over the last few years, Roque and I have been looking for houses on the market. We never found one, and I ended up leaving for law school; we already know how that story ended (left that institution). In early July, the perfect home on the corner went up for sale. A very scary investment as the house was listed as ‘As-is’ and if you are purchasing or have purchased a home you’ll know that that means you’ll be buying the house with no remodeling done by the owner, with broken/damaged materials, and/or other details that may be crucial to the infrastructure of the house. Regardless, the energy the house gave (plus other detailed reasons) and the cost was right in our budget. We were willing to take the risk and after a tug-of-war with a few other interested bidders, we were the accepted ones! This transaction occurred in August, but we didn’t move in until a bit after Thanksgiving weekend, as you know, we had some fixing to do with the house. I’m happy to create a newsletter specifically about the house and of being a first-time home buyer but for now the reflection is how proud I am of myself and of my partner, Roque! Home buyers in 2024! YEET.

   

4. I prioritized my current profession in teaching A LOT this year. I took on my second year of grad school (which is still underway) and two programs specifically for teaching. I do think these programs have supported the love I have for being in the classroom. I have felt very supported and cared for by the folks at the Writing Center at the University of Minnesota (shoutout to Lee and Jasmine). While I don’t think the content has challenged me or been new information, I have been ecstatic to receive incredible books and workshops that I know have added to my knowledge around critical pedagogy. The only challenge is being more vocal about critical pedagogy in my school building and district. To further reflect on my teaching journey, I want to add that this year has been tough. Student behavior has become an added stress, as well as some of the staff. I’ve grounded myself in the belief that I’m to teach my content area in my classroom, help my students grow and learn from literature, and support them with what I can in regards to their emotional and social intelligence. I’m not in the profession to have drama with colleagues about the ways we each do our jobs, no ma’am, I am not. So, may the odds be in my favor in teaching this 2025.

   

5. Storytelling hasn’t stopped at all in 2024, though I know I haven’t mentioned much of it in online. I’m working on my Stories from Unheard Voices continuously, and I’m also working with the Norther Plains voices on a project for the National Folklife Network website. I’m working on interviews of super cool artists in Greater Minnesota and partnering up with other artists to make this happen. The project is supposed to be done by the beginning of the 2025 summer, and I sure hope it does. I’ll also be featured in a dope podcast this 2025, I’ll make sure to share this project out — I’m not leading it, but I have been asked to be an interviewee. Similarly, the Star Tribune reached out and here is the story I was featured in for a millisecond. There’s a reason why I like to write and be the producer of a first-person encounter of mine—publications and journalists have their own angle and the authentic emotions and stories can become lost. I’m not exactly in love with the piece, but it does fire me up to continue to freelance and write more about home and the people we don’t often hear about.

6. Last reflection I have for us in this newsletter is about my undiagnosed anxiety. I’ve been really proud of myself for pushing my limitations when it comes to my anxiety of being in crowded places and spaces that I’m either not used to or just hate because of previous experiences. I went to a concert, I traveled on my own, I attended events, and I even have hosted outings with others. These steps are a huge stepping stone to what I can continue to build on. A few things that have helped this year with keeping me calm and collected has been yoga + meditation, saying ‘no’, as well as accepting my emotions and stressors. In 2025, I’m hoping to make the move of hopping on a plane and traveling across the country, as well as outside of the US. I’ve always loved to travel but because of anxiety, I stopped full-track on these endeavors. I have struggled to get back on this interest of mine, but I feel like I’m becoming more and more ready to conquer these fears which are getting in the way of living my life to the fullest.

   May the lucky stars be aligned for me and for YOU this 2025. I also want to thank each one of you for reading my newsletters this 2024, for cheering me on from afar, and for being inspiring individuals to me! Cheers!

   I will close with an original poem of mine, which has been sitting in my Google Drive. A present from me to you! See you all in the NEW YEAR!!

   

   Wish you could be here
   _{andrea v. duarte-alonso}

   where the deer face you with their
   bright eyes at night as you zoom down
   a rural road

   wish you could be here

   where the windmills stand strong
   and never stop turning their majestic
   arms

   wish you could be here

   where i paddle my kayak lightly
   on the lake, and swing my sandy feet
   out

   wish you could be here

   where i jog a 5k color run
   as a young teen, and my thick Latina ponytail
   frolics

   wish you could be here

   where i lock lips on the first date
   at the top of the hill behind the neighbor’s
   shrubs

   wish you could be here

   to witness the monarch
   butterflies dance on my warm
   hand