The following is a Letter to the Editor for the Opinions section written by DU student, Chris Fazzari.
You slam on your brakes too late. Your heart sinks.
The doctor comes back with a worried look on their face. Your heart sinks.
You see the email from the Chancellor that classes have been moved online. Your heart sinks.
There are not enough words in the English language to describe this feeling. The feeling of grief for the loss of our planned future. A plan we may not have realized we had till it was taken away.
We didn’t think the coronavirus was a problem. Until it was. We thought we would be on campus for spring quarter. Until we weren’t.
Freshmen had just started to get comfortable with being on their own. Seniors weren’t ready to leave. Athletes were thrown out of their sports. For everyone, the world has been turned upside down.
Our plans are gone, and it’s scary. During this time, all of us are going through inexpressible pain. We are connected through stress, despair, and uncertain futures. But that’s kind of beautiful, don’t you think? To not be divided by race, gender, creed, beliefs or sexuality but connected as one humanity.
Strangers ask me “How are you?” with genuine concern. On my two-and-a-half hour flight home, I spent the whole time talking to a random stranger about our fears, hopes and of course, dogs.
The only way out is through, but we may go together.
Everyone keeps talking about what life will be like “when things go back to normal.” But should they? Normal meant disrespecting the environment. Normal meant the rich controlling the political process. Normal meant ignoring the poor and helpless. Normal meant discrimination and prejudice. Normal meant not caring for each other.
Society has come to a standstill. We have the opportunity to reboot it.
It took this country an incredibly traumatic World War II before citizens viewed themselves as not of their state but as “Americans.” Maybe, this is the universe giving us a chance to view ourselves not as Americans, but humans. People across the world have come together over this horrible situation.
Instead of going back to “normal,” how about we stay united?
We can keep genuinely caring about strangers and the “other.” We can go through mass societal change and tackle the climate crisis. We can change our world. We can do it—we will overcome this virus. These are difficult times, but we must have hope.
I don’t know if this will help anybody else. But it sure has helped me. Do whatever brings hope to you. Whether that’s writing a wishful op-ed or stress baking.
We’ll get through this. After all the pain and Zoom classes, it’ll get better. If all of us try, we can make the world better than it was before.
