Reflecting back on the year where everything changed
Dear Christine,
It all started Feb. 28, 2020. At midnight, you received the email that would eventually reorder the entire trajectory of your life– the acceptance letter to the University of Southern California. You were so incredibly frazzled with excitement you accidentally accepted the admission offer thinking you were only providing your personal information. Remember laughing at yourself with the thought you might have just set the record for the fastest admissions response? Maybe you didn’t realize it then, but that probably was a reflection of how ready and open you were to have everything change. It was the three minute decision that determined the path that brought you where you are now.
Your 24th birthday was the last normal event before the chaotic switch to the pandemic-stricken world. On March 14, everyone you care about dearly– friends from different groups– were gathered in one place to celebrate you. Remember looking from one end of the table to the other and smiling overwhelmed by gratitude. That moment is what placed your 24th birthday in the birthday hall of fame. No one could’ve predicted the very next day the former president would declare a national lockdown. And no one would have foreseen how the next few months would play out.
On the surface, the lockdown might appear insanely mundane. But thanks to technology, being stuck at home wasn’t so bad. Virtual happy hours became a weekly event. You discovered hidden Korean drama gems on Netflix, which inevitably allowed you to spend more time with your parents. At-home hiit workouts saved you– because you might’ve gone mad without them. Dropping of a bottle of wine or homemade raw bars to friends permitted you to appreciate your friendships at a deeper level. The simplicity of our lives as a response to the pandemic helped you to remodel your understanding of life itself.
Oftentimes when people realize I’ve only attended Zoom university during my master’s program, the immediate follow-up question is: don’t you wish you were on campus? Your initial response is yes because who wouldn’t want to be in-person, working in the state-of-the-art media center, collaborating with others. But when you reflect on the past few months and go down the to-this-day-surprising list of people you’ve worked with, the incredible testimonies you’ve heard and the individuals who you can now call friends, it seems as if majority of them wouldn’t have happened if not for the pandemic. So yes it sucks to spend everyday at your desk, looking at the same set-up but the valuable relationships and crossing of paths actually outweigh the sometimes monotonous days.
When you look back at this year, I hope you remember how defining it was. And if there was a way to paint the past year onto the walls of a large room, the room would be circular. Because, as you’re sitting in the middle, you’ll begin to see how everything, everyone is perfectly connected. Continuum. Yes, you may feel as if in comparison to the grand scheme of things or the “normal” version of the program your accomplishments seem somewhat inconsequential but I hope you understand your experience wasn’t a punishment. It was preparation. It was redemption. It gracefully unfolds an opportunity to continually define the very woman you want to become and the stories you hope to tell in the next room.
