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Roche 2020 Personal Reflection Speech


Anticipation, excitement, and impatience are recurring feelings that take over us every December. As the month begins, it brings with it various celebrations along with the promise of a new year. While 2020 was a highly anticipated year, the majority prayed for it to end as soon as it began. A global pandemic, economic crisis, non-nuclear explosion, and an ever-progressing cycle of corruption all simultaneously rained on Lebanon marking 2020 as the year which shattered all of our expectations and turned out to be unexpected. However, this year was pivotal in ways we could never fathom.

This year has been challenging, whether on a personal or professional level with COVID-19 being undoubtedly the biggest challenge of all. What the global pandemic brought along with it wasn’t mere disruption of our everyday normal, it was the loss of control. With the future uncertain and things away from our grasp, we found ourselves in a state of limbo, unaware of what to do next and where to go from here. However, these challenges are a normal part of life, because we cannot discover our true potential without being face to face with adversity.

Over the course of the years, we’ve grown accustomed to mapping out goals, objectives, and resolutions that we aim to achieve, attaching next to them a countdown as though our life will end if we fail to make these things happen on time. This year showed us that no matter how much we create plans and make up long lists, one catalyst is enough to change everything. But perhaps unlike all other years, 2020 was not about learning and drafting strategies to achieve by the end of it, perhaps it was about unlearning everything we knew and thought was right.

For a moment the world shut down as we all started reevaluating our course of action. Our perceptions and priorities changed, and we began viewing things in a different light.

With the challenges and uncertainties came the change. We adapted to a new normal. Our homes became our offices, and despite the distancing, we remained one. While quarantining, we discovered things about ourselves and reflected on our lives. We mapped new plans and created better strategies.

In short, we created our lives anew.

And now, as yet another year approaches, we can’t but reflect on the events of the one that preceded it. Maybe we never saw it right away, but at this moment, we know that everything 2020 brought with it, the good and the bad, was crucial to our growth.

Like any story you read, you need to go through every chapter, because every one of them contributes to its progress and explains its ending. With 2021 fast approaching, I hope that you remember to take the time to reflect on your present and think carefully about your future. But most importantly, I hope you remember that the sun will be there to greet you once the storm is over.

Allow me to thank each and every one of you for being a beacon of light throughout this year, because without you, Roche couldn’t have progressed nor faced the challenges by itself. You are the pillars of strength, hope, and resilience. I wish you a new year filled with prosperity and growth. And may we always shine together!

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