"There's Got To Be A Morning After"

I realized this morning that I hadn't been posting to this blog in several weeks, because my life, like yours, became one of seismic shifts:  to working from home, to self-isolation, to days on end in the apartment, to Zoom being the one connection to the world.

Then, I re-read my last post:  March 8.  Right before the pandemic was announced, right before our lives turned upside down.  Looking at the picture--captured at the A2MEND conference, a cluster of smiling students gathered together for a photo to commemorate the evening--it seems like a vision from another world.  I wonder when we will be able to take group selfies again?

The date of my last entry also reminds me of how much our world has changed in six weeks.  We're engaging in "safer at home" practices; we're learning how to work remotely; we're being reminded daily of the importance of personal connection, and we're finding ways to reach out to each other.

Still, I don't want to lose sight of what we've achieved--not by choice, necessarily, but by the demands of our situation and the simple fact that we have to take care of each others and take care of our students.

In a span of only a month, here's what we've accomplished in the Los Angeles Community College District.  According to the Chancellor's report at the most recent Board of Trustees meeting,

• Over 8000 courses have been converted to an online environment,
• Over 1000 faculty have been trained in virtual instruction,
• Over 8000 employees have shifted to virtual workplaces, and 
• $10 million has been allotted from District reserves to support COVID-19 initiatives, including professional development and safety initiatives.

Think about that for a moment.  We're the largest system of community college education in the world, and look what those numbers say about us--about our intentionality, about our focus, about our ability to work together.

How long will this "virtual reality" last?  It all depends, as Dr. Fauci has said, on the virus.  However, I catch myself thinking about a line from a song popular in the 70's.  Some of you may remember the film "The Poseidon Adventure";  you know, the sinking of a cruise ship and the exploits of the survivors to stay alive.  The theme song, sung by Maureen McGovern, included these lines:

"There's got to be a morning after

If we can hold on through the night

We have a chance to find the sunshine

Let's keep on looking for the light."

Now, speaking across almost fifty years, these words resonate with what we're experiencing now.  We will keep looking for the light that is at the end of the pandemic, where we'll be back on campus, we'll engage with each other again, and we'll continue to serve our students the way we always have: with a total commitment to their well-being and their success.