After a year-long sabbatical, Dr. Tift returns to Belmont Hill, teaching English, overseeing the Debate Team, directing Advanced Action Research, and supervising the Sextant.
During her sabbatical, Dr. Tift gained new insights and skills, but also appreciated the time away from Belmont Hill. One of these skills was being certified as a Yoga teacher. After an intensive month in the Berkshires for yoga teacher training, Dr. Tift not only gained the ability to teach yoga but also gained a personal, spiritual, and philosophical experience. Dr. Tift carries these ideas into her English classes, where she occasionally leads a brief yoga session at the beginning of class. During her time in the Berkshires, Dr. Tift spent time away from screens, allowing her to focus on reading paper books and journaling. Through both of these activities, Dr. Tift was able to get around to books she had been wanting to read and reflect more. In fact, Dr. Tift enjoyed journaling so much that she continues this habit every day.
Another skill that Dr. Tift developed was learning Spanish. Dr. Tift notes that it “was just so fun to be a student and to, as an English teacher, get away from this very high level of working with [students] on very fine prose and just going back to being like a little kid and making grammatical mistakes and just focusing on the fun of conversation.” Not only did Dr. Tift enjoy the freedom to be a student again, but she also enjoyed the luxury of structuring her own time. At Belmont Hill, Dr. Tift notes that “you just get carried from the blocks and you don’t have to decide what to do. It’s all planned out for you.” Instead, Dr. Tift planned both times to work and times to be restful.
The most enjoyable part of her sabbatical, Dr. Tift revealed, was spending more time with her daughter. Dr. Tift wished to make her daughter “the most important teenager in [her] life”, especially because teenage years are particularly significant. Belmont Hill keeps us all busy, but, as Dr. Tift found during her sabbatical, it is essential to take time to reflect on what is truly important in our lives and pursue activities that we are passionate about.