My viewpoint while writing this blog post. Yes, that’s my living room art wall.

About a year ago I submitted my first blog post, resplendent with group photos of my first year cohort. It boggles my mind to look back on how quickly the last year has passed. And school officially started on Tuesday, September 4, so now a whole new cohort under me has had the pleasure of an extravaganza of group photos.

Here’s half of the new cohort with me at The Bean, part of our New Student Welcome Day scavenger hunt.

If you’ve been following this blog, you’ll note that my last post was about the desire and anxiety to return to school, mixed in with a casual mention of a sprained ankle. Now, after the joyousness of new student welcome day, I’ve got more sober personal news…

Not only did I actually break my ankle, but my orthopedic surgeon has recommended strongly that I get surgery to prevent further complications down the road. So now my life is whirling up around me as I manage the moving pieces of a complex medical process while also figuring out how this changes my first few weeks of school.

The long and short of it: after the procedure, scheduled for tomorrow, I will be in bed rest for about two weeks. Then I will be mobile enough to attend class and work again. I managed to attend exactly one (1) class before receiving this news.

The classes I’m taking this semester are Strategic Planning, Entrepreneurship, and New Business Creation, New Media Strategies, and Gallery Management. Ultimately I will miss two classes outright as they’re scheduled the same time as my surgery tomorrow, but I’m coordinating with my cohort to be patched into the rest of my classes via Skype during my bed rest.

The new cohort being “blown away” by Chicago wind. This representation of Chicago’s wind is resonating more with me as a symbol of how life comes at you fast.

Being forced to slow down by circumstances outside of your control, especially right at the beginning of a new year of a two-year program, creates a forced time for reflection. The concept of this surgery is so new to me (I’m writing about four hours after finding out that I have to have it) that I haven’t had a full amount of time to see the silver lining and practice gratitude, but right off the bat I do think it’s amazing that I have a level of technology that will allow me to digitally attend class. A new facet of life for the working professional is the ability to be adept and flexible with technology in order to accomplish one’s goals. Skype, conference calls, smartphones—all elements that are amazing in creating a mobile workforce that prevents life from totally sidelining you when the unexpected happens.

Past the tiny joys of feeling relief that you can still “Make It Work” even when you can’t be physically present for class, this requirement to take time off is giving me a rather zen moment of realizing that sometimes you just have to go with the flow. It’s one thing to regret a choice you made that ultimately was a bad decision for you. It’s another thing when you break your ankle and require surgery just because of a freak accident when you were running to catch an Uber. At the end of the day, you can’t account for all the variables life will throw at you. Sometimes you have to plan for what you want, and then re-route when an obstacle gets in your path.

I’m proud to say the part of the cohort who I led in the scavenger hunt won “most creative photo” and a round of coffee mugs (just like last year). Two years running! MAM!! RAH RAH!