There’s definitely been a huge shift in my personal life with the loss of my mom. I had to miss out on participating in my Duke Engage project, but I’m glad to have something structured and positive to focus on and move forwards with during my grief. Before, I always thought I dealt well with change, but after this earth-shattering experience, I’m still trying to live and reconcile with the uncertainty that comes from this type of abrupt change. In terms of the DE project, I’ve really appreciated my team allowing me to hop back on the project and continue the normal activities I was doing before. Even as the project evolves in the particular structure of the courses we are trying to create, because the group as a whole has a clear idea of the purpose of the courses, it’s easy to adapt to smaller changes. Our group in particular isn’t struggling for resiliency, but looking at the people around me on a personal level, a lot of people are also going through grief. Some people are grieving over the loss of their summer opportunities, and in my immediate community, people are grieving over the loss of their incomes and feelings of purpose. On a national and global level, people are grieving and acting against systemic racism in our country. I think with anyone trying to progress forwards with their lives, there’s a lot of resilience that comes into play because of the tremendous loss and uncertainty we face collectively as well as individually at this certain moment in time.
