In the last few days, I have begun to drink coffee conservatively, using beans that have already had water run through them once. I am under voluntary self-isolation after someone at a dental conference my partner was at tested positive for COVID-19. It’s not the worst: I’m allowed to leave the apartment to go for a walk in the sun, beneath the cherry blossoms, the blue sky, the clean air. If I see someone walking toward me, I just make sure to cross the road.
I usually walk in the evening, before logging on to “go to class.”
I don’t know yet how well Camosun instructors are going to fare with this; students, if you feel that learning outcomes aren’t bring communicated, I urge you to take it up with the department chair. More important than any grades, though, is the health and mindsets of students.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it: I have nothing to offer except rations of my own resilience. As a species and a community, we are tough—tough as nails, in fact. You’re tough as nails. We’ve made it through trying times before, be it pandemics, wars, or devastating personal loss.
Survival is the name of the game here. Make no mistake: it will be hard. You will panic, and that panic—for the first time in most of our lifetimes—won’t always be irrational.
This is unprecedented for us, but not for the world. My grandmother told me recently about how people threw rolls of toilet paper out their windows in celebration on D-Day. Maybe when this is all over, that can be how we celebrate.
We’ll all be okay.
The 24/7 access to information is also dangerous: every narrative we could possibly want to feed ourselves is out there. During these times of hard change, social sacrifice, and businesses struggling—or even ceasing—to function, us students have to remember to feed ourselves only the most nourishing of narratives.
The distance will get you down. You might spiral or worry about job security or making rent; you might even be a little hungry.
My partner is temporarily out of work because of this. I have to remember to sit back and breathe with a cup of warm tea; when you’re steeping in hot water, you know your strengths. Now drink that tea: sweat, cry, scream, do what you have to do. I’m right there with you, and so are those at Camosun working around the clock to make sure we can all still learn, the healthcare workers, the truck drivers delivering food to stock shelves. We’re all putting ourselves in the line of fire on the daily, some more directly than others. It proves that we always do what we need to do to bugger on through.
The sun is out these days and it’s getting warmer.
Don’t worry, Camosun students: it will get warmer yet. It will keep getting warmer. Let’s all hang in there together. Before you know it, we’ll be back on campus, rolling our eyes at instructor blunders, pulling all-nighters to cram with friends, stopping in the Nexus office to share a joke, basking in the normalcy we’ll probably never take for granted again.
Adam Marsh, student editor
adam@nexusnewspaper.com