Another Spring, Another Zoom Link

By: Hanya Captan
@HanyaCaptan
Editor-in-Chief

After the President announced that we were starting the semester online, I was admittedly a little shocked. I had heard rumors that this was a possibility, but I was hoping that they would remain just that, rumors. But as the semester’s start date drew closer and closer, I started to reflect on how many friends I’d spoken to in recent weeks who had tested positive, or whose family members tested positive.

Some were experiencing lighter symptoms, others were the sickest they’d ever been.

Checking AUC’s Coronavirus Community Dashboard, I was in disbelief at how high the Covid-19 rolling average had gotten, especially considering the fact that during the winter semester there are supposed to be less people on campus.

Luckily, though, the numbers are quickly declining and there have been no fatalities or hospitalizations.

I’m glad that we’re going back next week, but I still empathize with the anguish my colleagues felt when it was announced that we were going to start the semester online.

It was an unpleasant reminder of how quickly and easily we could be forced to return to the much dreaded online instruction.

All through spring ’20 to spring ’21, I could tolerate the isolation of being online by trying to rationalize the circumstances. 

This is our only option. We have to get used to it. It’s the safest choice.

And although this is true, when we came back to campus last semester I was reminded of all the things an online experience can’t replicate.

It can’t replicate meeting friends for coffee, sitting out in gardens, taking the last bus of the day back home.

All these things are experiences in themselves and ones which really add color to one’s day-to-day life.

The abrupt return to online felt like another disruption in a series of many as long as this virus continues to exist and mutate.

But if there is any hope to be derived from the most recent switch to online, it is the fact that it was brief. Back in spring ’20 when we made the switch to online for only “two weeks” it was followed by a year of online instruction. 

I think that is the main thing we should never lose sight of. With all the different mutations and waves, a few things have remained consistent: masking, social distancing, and getting vaccinated help protect us against this disease. 

At the start of all this, we weren’t armed with this very crucial information. Now, we are. This is a fact we should never take for granted, because it is what helps protect us against this virus.

But another fact that has remained true is that we need each other. This virus won’t go away unless we all work together to get rid of it. The list of precautions above won’t work unless they are practiced collectively.

So, this Sunday when we return to campus once again, let’s do even better than we did last semester. Let’s wear our masks and socially distance as best as we can. That is the best defense we have against the virus and going back online.