The year was 2019.
I was close to achieving my Distinguished Toastmaster award and had just one project left to complete my Advanced Communicator Gold requirements. All the manuals and traditional awards have since gone away and we are completely in the Pathways Educational program now. I sent in the paperwork for my awards and had my DTM plaque sent to me in September of 2019. A few weeks later our club had an open house and I was presented with my Distinguished Toastmaster award.
It was a great contest season as I became really involved that Spring with the Division Speech and Tall Tales contests. The Spring conference a few weeks later was one of the best that I ever attended. It was the conference where I came up with the term “DTM Huddle” when the Cranberry High Noon Toastmasters all gathered after running the gauntlet.
Our district was looking really good and was growing clubs. Our outlook was wall to wall sunshine without a cloud in the sky. I felt I was in a good place as well building my Toastmasters family and finally feeling good about my job after so many years of frustration. I had my own thing going for me. I even launched this blog and had my own sense of style. 2019 was the year, for me, that DTM Huddle became a household name.
Then… the rains came.
March 2020 brought the news of the fast-spreading COVID-19 outbreak. Instead of looking forward to upcoming speech contests and conferences, we would be on lockdown and sheltering in place. Masks and social distancing would become a thing. Toastmasters meetings would still go on, but online through a platform called Zoom. My place of employment was shut down for two months, but once I returned things would never be the same.
I received the Spirit of Toastmasters award in September 2020 for my passion for visiting other Toastmasters clubs and being a goodwill ambassador for the District. Not long after though, I went through the motions for the next couple of years. I wondered whether I not I wanted to continue in Toastmasters. I went through changes in my life, including turning 40 and leaving WIS for Giant Eagle. My gender nonconformity support system was dwindling away and I began to feel depressed. Plus I was trying to figure out how to do everything on top of my work schedule.
Almost three years to the date that the world had shut down, my Toastmasters spirit was about to be reborn.
Following the Greensburg Toastmasters meeting on March 15, I was approached by our past President about taking on the role for the upcoming year. I accepted the offer like that and already had some good ideas for the club. I’ve served as President before in Greensburg and in Achievers, but this time feels different. Maybe it’s because I’m in the post-WIS era now and I don’t feel as distracted by everyone’s negativity as I did then. But it’s safe to say that my Toastmasters future looks bright now compared to when it looked uncertain in 2022 and even the beginning of 2023.
While I missed the conference, I was able to see it through some of the pictures taken by our members who attended. Our Greensburg meeting this past week saw me step up to the plate and evaluate our Area Director’s panel discussion speech on non-profits. She is the Division C Director-elect for 2023-24. The most recent Laurel Highlands meeting I led a Table Topics session with a theme centered around flowers and what their meaning is. I was able to get full participation from the group, including online.
Thursday night, I attended the training session that the Division B director holds on Zoom. When I accepted the nomination for President, I wanted to attend these events to set a better example for myself as a member and Greensburg Toastmasters President-elect. I plan to take advantage of any upcoming sessions that may be held in the future when my schedule allows for it.
My Toastmasters fire was extinguished for a time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which was a huge lifestyle change for everyone. My interest had gone down because of everything else going on in my life as well. However, it’s on its way back up now and I’m ready to lead Greensburg to success.
I hit 400 blog posts in Feburary and was looking at late summer to hit the next big milestone. However, I’ve realized that there’s no rush. When it gets here, I’ll feel a real sense of accomplishment for having achieved it.
Stylish 🍒 