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When you are in a place of privilege, it’s easy to see the bright side. With health, family, shelter and financial stability, it’s not difficult to spot a silver lining in this pandemic. I wanted to start this column not to glaze over the struggles of others, but to urge each of us to look at what we have. In a time where our external world is dismantled, I believe there is an opportunity to rebuild internally. I hope that by reading this column we can all begin to focus on the things that are permanent rather than fleeting and place virtue over what is material, so that when life goes back to normal, we all know exactly what gives us meaning and develop a greater appreciation for whatever that may be. 

There is a sense of solidarity among young people when it comes to pressure. We feel pressure to find success, pressure to find a purpose. We scroll through curated versions of perfection and feel pressure to be content. For many of us, the superficial elements that we judge ourselves by are things like grades, internships, body image and relationships. We feel the need to compare ourselves to others in terms of where we stand in these fleeting markers, but seldom are they virtues or values. 

Then, one Sunday evening the university issues an announcement that classes are being canceled for the week, and in some sense, we can all breathe now because we are granted a luxury our cluttered lives take from us: time.

Then, before we can exhale, we begin to realize the gravity of this pandemic that has changed the lives of virtually the entire world. And this got me thinking, all that pressure, where does it come from? The higher-ups I would curse each evening, that I lost sleep over, are now silently navigating this thing they can’t control. The institution I am privileged enough to attend is too busy figuring out the new normal that the grades and activities I once associated with my identity no longer hold the same importance. Nearly everything that I drew my self-worth from, that was slowly eating away at my confidence and causing me to question where exactly I am in life, has been put on pause.

In the past few weeks, we have lost control of our normal lives, creating a global sense of solidarity. All the pressure that we once felt has now been replaced by fear, but I propose an alternative mindset. For me, this virus has given me perspective.

Now, we are chasing health and safety. We crave the chance to shake hands with a stranger and share a meal with a friend. We long for walks in a crowded park and to learn in a classroom. In other words, the opportunity to fully live is what we miss. All of the pressure we felt, that clearly does not reflect our values, is replaced with humility – we were only fooling ourselves into thinking we had control in the first place. What I miss most is the ability to plan for the near future, the ability to plan a weekend getaway or a summer vacation. But now, I get to practice living in the moment instead of liking quotes on Twitter that romanticize the idea.

The pandemic has swept the globe, but on the bright side, this tragedy has allowed us a once in a lifetime chance to refocus our attitudes about why we are here in the first place. Why are we in school? Why do we work? What are we passionate about? Do we like who we are?

If yes, why?

If no, why not?

We can once again fall in love with the lives we lead and the privileges we have now that we have seen how quickly it can all be taken away. We can once again fall in love with ourselves because by silencing the noise of college life, we can truly hear ourselves.