In the famed series Lord of the Rings, the unlikely hero Frodo Baggins offers to carry the terrible burden of the One Ring to Mordor in order to destroy it and save all of Middle Earth from evil. Immediately after he makes this decision, he says, “Though I do not know the way.”

Someone once said that "a marathon is hundreds of miles. The finish is the last 26.2." Maybe that “someone” worked at the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) because they are coming to the “finish” at the end of their latest marathon, though it’ll still take some work and time to get over the line.

Think about the last time you went to a restaurant—what did you order? Was it your usual, or did you see a new addition to the menu that intrigued you so much you pulled the trigger and tried it?

You’ve likely heard the phrase “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”—or at least something like it, and the sentiment is true. It’s incredibly helpful to understand what pitfalls or stumbles occurred in the past so that the same traps aren’t fallen into, and it’s even more helpful when someone compiles a list of those pitfalls that more easily lay them all out.

All of us likely remember hearing something like this from our parents: “when I come in there, your room better be clean!”

Have you ever picked out a hike in the mountains, but once you arrive at the base and look up, you think to yourself, “oh man, I have to climb that?” Your enthusiasm might bleed away a little bit.

Famed poet Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.”

“New year, new me!”