We Will Endure

The coronavirus pandemic challenges us mightily to rise above the fray and stay the course despite the distractions, the changes in our lives, and the uncertainty that faces us all.

 

Monday afternoon, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam ordered all schools in the Commonwealth, public and private, to close for the remainder of the academic year. While his announcement was not totally unexpected, the reality of it – and the late-March timing – struck like a forearm shiver to the solar plexus.

 

Sure, Collegiate had a plan. We were already executing that plan. Short term or long, distance learning will work. We’ll make it work. We always make things work. That’s our culture. That’s who we are.

 

After all, the school motto is Parat Ditat Durat. It means We Prepare. We Enrich. We Endure. That’s a high standard. It’s written in stone, literally and figuratively. It’s been tested time and time again.

 

But never like this.

 

The initial plan was distance learning through April 3, then reassess.

 

Maybe, just maybe, the crisis would pass, and we’d salvage something of the second semester and the athletic season and all the other events that make spring so wonderful and memorable.

 

And maybe, just maybe, the Class of 2020, the generation born in the wake of 9/11, would cross the finish line together, bask in the glory of graduation, and celebrate together before heading off to their next ports of call, so much better for having shared the Collegiate experience.

 

Wow! Then this.

 

Wait two weeks. Wait a month. Maybe the outcome would have been different. Maybe the same. Who knows? But here we are, wrapping our collective heads around the premature end of our on-site time together for this year, trying to make sense of the situation.

 

Ultimately, we will, of course. Maybe not today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. Or for many days after that. But we will.

 

So how?

 

When profound words fail me, I revert to the language of sports, and I view this moment in time as a challenge to our competitive spirit where we’re called to “dig deep,” just as we are in the athletic arena or the classroom or on the stage or anywhere else where we strive, individually and collectively, to be better today than we were yesterday.

 

We’re in the thick of competition now, and, trust me, you can’t compete successfully just by showing up at game time or on test day or when the curtain rises.

 

You must apply the lessons you’ve learned along the way about delivering your best when your best is needed, and, man, if there was ever a time for that, it’s now.

 

Those lessons? There’re many. Here’re a few.

 

Control what you can control, and if you can’t control the situation, control yourself, your heart, and your mind.

 

Focus on the task at hand: family responsibilities, classwork, and good health. Take care of yourself. Get a workout each day. It’s good for your head as well as your conditioning. Get sufficient rest, eat right, hydrate, and make good decisions. Those principles that prepare you for athletic or academic success apply now as well.

 

Exercise self-discipline. Follow the rules. They’re for the greater good, just as the governor’s decision was. Wash your hands, avoid crowds, keep your distance, steer clear of those who are sick, and lay low if you’re not feeling well.

 

Be creative with your time and energy. Say, “This is what I can do” rather than “This is what I can’t.”

 

Be intentional. Take care of today before you move on to tomorrow. View this journey as a one-step-at-a-time adventure. Bring positive energy to each day and each experience.

 

Savor family time. Find quiet time.

 

Connect with each other (if only from a distance, for now), support each other, encourage each other, take care of each other, make each other better, and become the best version of yourself that you can be.

 

This is no easy journey. It’s an odyssey.

 

But it will come to an end. We just don’t know when. And we’ll be OK. And Collegiate will be there. But it’ll be different. It’ll be better. And so will we.

~ Weldon Bradshaw