Serving During My First Pandemic

Author: Kayana Waller

It's been two weeks and life as an American is rapidly changing. Personally, it's been a strange transition to the digital world, like completing thesis work via Zoom. I will be graduating into a shaky job market and disillusioned social market, unlike anything I could have prepared for. For numerous communities around the country, the situation is just as, if not more, complicated.

COVID-19 is inadvertently refreshing conversations of inequities my colleagues and I have seen in the classroom all along: food insecurity, technological barriers, and financial turmoil. For many students, the classroom serves an escape from realities now highlighted in the recent news cycle. As I settle into virtual life, I remind myself that these issues do not go away because I don't see them.

This outbreak will be a long one. As someone who trusts fact-based research, I can't see the world going back to normal for many months. I wonder if society will be consistent in rallying behind the most vulnerable. What can I do within the parameters of the crisis?

It's a relief that free lunches and Wi-Fi, among other services, are being offered to the under-resourced. However, there is more that we all can do.

Delivering groceries to an elderly neighbor. Demanding action from local and state representatives. Generously tipping delivery providers. Donating supplies that we're hoarding (I know, I know, YOU didn't buy all the toilet paper.)

Service doesn't necessarily stop. It's changing. Now more than ever.