WOD 7.1.20

Changing of the Blog Guard: Thank you and farewell Josh!

A note from David:

The CFSBK blog has always been an integral part of our gym and community. I’ve referred to it as the digital watering hole where members can come to check out the daily workout, get updates on whats going on around the gym, register for classes and maybe banter in the comments section. For the first 6 years I did it myself, then Kate Reece took over for a few years and in January of 2016 Josh took over the managing editor position. That is until today. Josh will be gearing up for a cross country move and these new adventures mean its time for him to move on from running CFSBK.com. I know personally how much work goes into putting up a post every.single.day and I am so grateful for all the care, attention to detail and professionalism Josh put into every single post while the blog was under his charge.  A primary intent for the blog is that it’s a living scrap book of CFSBK, one that highlights members, catalogs our history and showcases our culture and community. Josh has done an amazing job telling our story over the past several years and we are sad to see him go but so grateful for all his hard work. During his time as managing editor, Josh composed over 1,600 daily blog entries, corrected countless grammatical errors of mine, sent out tons of newsletters and did an amazing job keeping our community informed. Josh will be missed but no matter his zip code will always be part of our family. Thank you for for everything, Josh.

CFSBK changed my life. I’m not the first person to say that, and I won’t be the last, but it’s true. I took Foundations with Chris in February of 2013, not long after I moved to Brooklyn. I didn’t know many people here, but within a few months I felt like I was part of a community. Even during the unfortunate stretches when I couldn’t make it into the gym because of my bad ankle or because life got in the way, CFSBK was my anchor.

In addition to giving me lifelong friendships, CFSBK made me a better version of myself in every way imaginable. I’ve been an English teacher and writer for my entire adult life, and being put into the position of a student in group class made me rethink what it meant to be a good teacher. CFSBK’s world-class coaching staff taught me so much—how to meet learners where they are rather than where they “should be,” how to demonstrate concepts clearly, how to be kind and patient, how to listen. Looking back it was this atmosphere of perpetual learning that made me want work at CFSBK, first at the front desk and later as Managing Editor of the blog, which I took over from the brilliant Kate Reece. Teaching and writing can be isolating work, but as a staff member at CFSBK I learned how to take constructive criticism, how to be accountable to others, and how to take myself less seriously. For all of this I am eternally grateful.

I had a hard time writing this because every sentence that came out felt like a cliche. It finally hit me that I felt that way because I had already seen this story told dozens of times by other community members in my work as editor of the blog. I’m proud to be one of the thousands of people who have had their lives changed by this very special place. Thank you to David for creating it and for all of CFSBK’s staff and members—your names are too many to list—for sustaining it.

I’m moving to Los Angeles at the beginning of August to pursue my dream of being an extra in a David Lynch film (jk… sorta), but I’ll be back to visit as soon as I can. Hit me up if you find yourself on the West Coast!