Submitted by Kyle Ainslie
Graphic by Brian Levac
How are you staying afloat this year?
An active mind/body is a healthy one! Regular exercise and a healthy diet keeps the body and mind functioning at capacity. Before this pandemic, I always like to regularly challenge myself to get a new certification, or learn a new skill (whether work-related or not).
Since starting to work from home, my girlfriend has really encouraged me to participate in Virtual Marathons/Runs (as in, you can register for a run located in Vancouver; however, you can complete it in Sudbury, or wherever, and submit your results and receive medals/swag accordingly).
I’ve also set up a mini “home gym” in my place to keep up with my fitness since Good Life closed for a while.
To challenge my mind – my girlfriend and I have also really gotten into puzzles and Legos – in particular, building complex vehicles, like the Batmobile 1989 version that took almost 15 hours to complete.
I’ve also really taken to professional development; recently received a certification from Dell for TechDirect (in summary, this was provided by my department so that we can perform warranty work on Dell-based computers without always having to call a tech on-site).
And at the beginning of November, I started teaching Windows for IT Professionals for the CETY program at Cambrian which I have found very rewarding. It has occupied a lot of my time outside of the classroom for ensuring the virtual environments/labs are working properly, speaking with students for any issues they’re experiencing, and of course, grading assignments which can be time-consuming.
