Just Corona Stuff

As I write this, our team has finished up sprint 1 and looks to wrap up sprint 2 on Tuesday; however, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that, throughout this productivity, our worlds have been “turned on their heads.”

The Monday before spring break, my boss at work told me that UK was looking to spend the 2 weeks following spring break online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I told her I didn’t see it happening.

Days later, UK announced that the following 2 weeks after spring break would be completely online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was kind of excited; I told myself it could be a nice break from the tension of the fast pace created by commuting between my 2 jobs and school. Then, during spring break, I woke up one morning to a bombardment of texts asking if I had seen the news.

UK would be online for the rest of the semester, and commencement, the thing I had been looking towards all year, was postponed until further notice. All the senior things I had been looking towards–my sorority’s alumni ritual, honors program ceremony, induction to the profession ceremony, graduation–had been postponed until further notice.

I would not get to see all of my college friends for one last time in two weeks. I felt robbed of my goodbyes and the many “lasts” I was looking forward to.

I read an article about how important it was to take these measures in order to protect the most vulnerable in our communities, how important it was to take these measures to avoid overwhelming our healthcare infrastructure. I mourned the loss of getting to experience the “lasts” of my senior semester, but was humbled by the fact that the lives of others–even if it was just one–was so much more important than me being able to “experience my lasts.”

So I picked myself up out of bed, texted my teammate Cameron, and we finished our user stories for the sprint. Homework and deadlines will still come in a steady stream. I will finish this design project, and I will still “graduate” in May, even if I have to strut around in my cap and gown on Zoom to celebrate.