Watershed Moment
March 26, 2020
This is a watershed moment for colleges. For students who have lost their classrooms. For athletes who have lost seasons. For artists who have lost performances, ensembles, and galleries. For professors who have lost research. For graduating seniors who have lost goodbyes, and public recognition. For homeless students who have lost safe havens. For staff who have lost paychecks, the joys of teaching, and the promises of mentorship. For campuses that have lost Ultimate Frisbee games and spring blooms.
In recent weeks, the grief within college communities has been tangible. Colleges and universities are idiosyncratic places, and for those who live, work, or learn within their walls, life can feel suspended in space and time. And because young adults are becoming independent and building their own communities, sometimes for the first time, they may be prone to experiencing the emotional wrath of COVID-19 more intensely than children or older adults.
The concept of Radical Acceptance, coined by psychologist Marsha Linehan, can be valuable in helping college students overcome the sense of loss they are now experiencing. According to Linehan, radical acceptance involves letting go of the illusion of control and accepting one’s circumstances without judgment. It means pausing in the moment, becoming aware of the discrepancy between what we wish for and what we have, and recognizing that if we come to terms with the hand we’ve been dealt, we will ultimately feel more at peace. It means understanding the paradox that if we stop fighting pain, it will hurt less.
If students learn nothing else from colleges during the COVID-19 era, it should be that they have the capacity for resilience - that even though they undoubtedly wish their lives hadn’t been upended and terrorized by an international crisis, they can still move forward. That in the face of virtual house arrest, they can still find ways to build teams, compete, perform, learn, research, support one another, play games, and plant new blooms.
This blog post originally appeared on the Carthage College website. It has been republished with permission.