By:  Jessica R

The year 2020 has received a lot of hate. Some have hailed it as the worst year in our history. Granted, many of those people really never dealt with the adversity of our forefathers and their civil wars, world wars, great depression and starvation. Honestly there’s a huge age bracket of us that don’t know what life is like without cell phones or Internet connection. So for those of us that fall into that category 2020 could be considered pretty rough.

I have a bit of a different take. I feel like this was a year that made us shine.

We have been faced with difficulty, challenges...and we have risen above, adapted, and adjusted. We found ways to support small businesses, keep people in their jobs, and change the way we live and do business.

I really wish I would’ve had stock in Zoom (meeting software) before all of this happened. I also have never been so thankful as I am now to have an iPhone and FaceTime. Technology has allowed us in a time of distance, separation and hardship to stay connected, to stay on task and to accomplish our goals.  But not everyone was prepared for this change in every day life.

It was amazing how quickly companies were able to transition to people working from home. How schools were able to continue to educate our children. Now I’m not saying everything‘s been perfect.  There’s definitely been stumbling blocks and not everyone is happy, but again the challenge has made us stronger. And I’ve been even more thankful that I work for a company who--although we didn’t have this situation in mind when we were building the course to help residents study and become better surgeons--we were already set up for success. When I first came to work for AbsiteSmackdown.com, I was sold on the idea of growing and bringing together a community of educators, doctors and students. To build something that would create learning opportunity for surgical residents, while being a resource to help refresh those who have already made the step into their career as surgeons.

By having not just the book, but the entire video course available on so many platforms, in addition to all the free educational material: the blogs, the podcast, the daily Absite fact, and free e-books, it seemed almost made for this climate and situation.

It makes me proud to work for a company that wanted to be diverse and cater towards a new generation while not leaving the old in the dust. I find it awesome that regardless of whether you're on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook or even Twitter, you can find something that can help you on a daily basis study and overcome your challenges.

I posted a meme on my LinkedIn that said:  plot twist, 2020 has actually been the best year of your life. You have faced challenge after challenge, you have adapted, and you have overcome. You have grown exponentially...don’t take that for granted.

I feel that.

#absitesmackdown