Chapter 41- My COVID-19 Birthday
Because of the meaning of my birthday (much more than me being born), I always try to do something significant on my birthday.
And write about it.
Like for all the people who canceled birthday plans- and wedding plans, graduation plans, trips, and so much more. I had to rethink what I was going to do for my birthday- my 41st birthday.
At first, it was going to be nothing but try to figure out how I was going to shift my business for the almost completely virtual world.
Then I came up with this.
The entire world has been affected by COVID-19. But one of the groups I feel for the most are the high school and college classes (and even my granddaughter’s kindergaren class) or 2020.
So for my birthday, I asked people to tag seniors in social media posts.
20 seniors were chosen and sent gifts to keep them encouraged on the next leg of their journeys.
Because COVID-19 made it impossible for me to execute my contract with my local school distric. I also created another effort to get my books and S.O. What! message of resilence to as many seniors (or students who would be one day) as possible.
I didn’t meet my goal…or even come close to it.
But I’m grateful for those who helped me celebrate my birthday by helping me to get more youth reading and ready for the challenges of life.
Then I turned my focus to celebrating my granddaughter’s kindergarten graduation. Her birthday was early in the COVID-19 crisis so the party consisted of just her household while others watched on Facebook. So I wanted to do a little more for her to celebrate her promotion to 1st grade. We’re having a small gathering at my house to make sure she knows. We are proud of her and will always celebrate her educational accomplishments.
Did you have a birthday or other special occasion during COVID-19? How did you celebrate?
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I’m Summer Owens, and my passion is helping youth and young adults realize success no matter what obstacles they face. As an international resilience and leadership keynote speaker, author, S.O. What! Success Coach, and creator of the S.O. What! Literacy, Life Skills, and Character Education curriculum, I empower people to say, “So what!” to even their greatest challenges. provide a framework to help people see past their challenges and focus on solutions using the S.O. What! Success System (Overcome Obstacles + Eliminate Excuses + Calculate Choices = S.O. What! Success). Through keynotes, workshops, books, online courses, and workbooks, I use life’s challenges and my own story of resilience as a rape survivor and teen mom success story to help others confidently pursue their dreams.
Looking for an inspiring college motivational speaker? A high school literacy curriculum? A middle school life skills workbook? A great example for teen mothers? A women’s empowerment or single mother’s conference speaker? I’m your girl and will help any audience say, “S.O. What!”.
