The slowing down that isolation brings has given me space to tap back into my creative instincts--I think as a way of keeping on, and a way of comforting myself through the challenges of anxiety, change, loss, that unsettling space of not knowing. Creative expression is crucial to processing our lives--it gives us a platform through which we come to know what we are feeling, how to engage with this process of being human. So I've been deepening my art of conversation with loved ones, reading so much that my back aches, making up dances in the small nooks of my home. When I tap into my imagination, I feel some sort of universal spirit that reminds me to breathe deeply and open my eyes, to ask my questions and acknowledge my worries but also not forget my laughter.
~Cresence Birder, HS English & Dance teacher
Since the closing of school and the beginning of shelter in place, I’ve been experiencing time differently. Certainly the division between work time and home time broke down when I began teaching classes from my house. During free periods I would walk the dog or do the dishes. More profoundly, though, my sense of the passage of minutes and hours, even whole days, began to blur. That has been even more true since the start of spring break, and not entirely for the worse. I like it when a day feels roomy—when I can read the paper or a book and drink cup after cup of tea as the room brightens and dims, with little sense of what time it is. Most of my days are made up of that kind of time now. I take walks that stretch on and on. I spent four hours yesterday assembling a chicken pot pie. Cooking has been especially precious since I’ve been staying home. It gives form to my day (three meals) and it seems more than ever like a meditative practice: all that care and work, and then you eat, and there’s nothing left (except dirty dishes). Then a few hours later you do it again. Maybe this is true of all our work, in some way? But when I can do so little, what I’m able to do takes on dimension and value. I do wonder, though, what I’ll remember of this time—possibly very little.
~Clara Boyle, Ph.D, HS English teacher & English Dept. Chair
There are two short books I just happened to buy at Warwicks late January, really just serendipitously. One is the "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse" by Charlie Mackesy, and the other "Gmorning, Gnight" by Lin-Manuel Miranda (creator of the musical "Alexander Hamilton." ) They are gems. Each combines words and drawing. The wisdom in both just pours forth, for example in the first: "When the big things feel out of control...focus on what you love right under your nose." For Lin, whose work I especially love, "Good morning he said. Be at home in your head. Make sure joy is well fed. Don't let dread hog the bed."
Now why am I telling you all of this? First, everyone definitely needs to get these books, they are full of treasure.
Second, and most importantly, because when I read these passages all I want to do is read them in the very next Advisory checkin, and also to my classroom students. I love watching everyone's faces light up. At Bishop's, we have such a tightly knit fabric of love, kindness, sensitivity and respect; though Zoom is officially "remote," my connections could not possibly be stronger to our community. I am so grateful.
~Nicole Holland, Ph.D, AP European History & AP Art History teacher
The important stuff is always found in the "little" things. It seems paradoxical; but it really isn't.
I've been thinking about things I am missing, or am going to miss.
This is Joshua's senior year. If his Graduation ceremony doesn't happen, I won't stand on stage to hand him his diploma. I won't see him in his graduation regalia.
The rest of the sailing season is canceled.
The seniors, John, Rocco, and Joshua, sailed in their last regatta a month ago. The team won a trophy up in San Francisco--their best performance in 18 years.
The trophy sits in my family room, because there has not been an opportunity for them to present it to Mr. Kim at Upper School Announcements.
I'll be honest, it makes me sad. And, I think that's normal. It is to be expected.
But there is something I've realized: the "big days" are for pictures...stored on our computers or in a photo album. The stuff that really matters in a life is the stuff happening every day, without pomp or circumstance.
Sophia is back at home for the rest of the the semester...the four of us are living together in the house. Who knows when that will happen again? This morning. Sophia showed me a video she thought was funny. It made her laugh so hard! Later, I tended my bees while Sophia and Joshua looked on.
My dog is over 14. He's not sure why everyone is home, but he really likes it. He looks terrible and smells worse. But I love him.
Laura works at her computer, controlling the robot in her lab remotely to check out crystals, or solving protein structures on projects that I'm not really allowed to know about. But, it's cool stuff and I love to watch her work. She's so talented and smart.
I make dinner. The kids clear the table and help clean up. We chat, watch TV, maybe play a game. It seems hopelessly banal. Yet, it brings me joy...every day.
~Anthony Pelletier, Ph.D, Honors Chemistry, Advanced Honors Biology teacher & Head Sailing Coach
Social distancing in a 700 square foot house with only you, your family, and an angry cat is hard! I go through phases of complete calm and contentment which are rapidly followed by extreme anxiety whenever I read the news (which I can't seem to stop reading). We have been getting out for a lot of walks and in fact we are averaging about 30 miles a week of just walking our neighborhood. My highlights have included watching Tiger King, playing on-line Bingo with friends across the country via Zoom, and laying in the hammock on my back deck reading.
~Lani Keller, Ph.D, HS Biology teacher
I imagine it is hard for my mom to get through all this with me. On the upside, we have done a lot of fun things, such as building forts, coloring, baking, and organizing.
~Bex, Lani Keller's son
My son, Eric, and I have been very strict about social distancing and staying safe. When I'm not teaching Honor Bio, Anatomy & Physiology, and Forensic Science online, we assemble puzzles, play games, and walk...and walk...and walk. The hardest part for me is not being able to see and hug my two grandchildren (Isabella, 2 1/2, and Dylan, 2 months) who live just an hour north in Irvine. We FaceTime, Zoom, and chat on the phone. I am confident we will weather this storm if we do it together and strictly adhere to all guidelines. I believe that science will prevail in helping us out of a very bad situation. We should have listened to the scientists' predictions.
~Julie Zedalis, Honors Biology, A&P, Forensic Science teacher
There is a popular poetry exercise based on George Ella Lyon's poem, "Where I'm From," which allows people to explore their identity and what is meaningful to them. During our time away, I found the activity to be a nice break from reading about all the things outside my control. If you are interested in constructing your own poem, the template (and the original poem) can be found here: https://www.sausd.us/cms/lib/CA01000471/Centricity/Domain/3043/I%20Am%20From%20Poem.pdf
"I Am From"
I am from backpack
From Mr. Clean and Mrs. Meyer’s
I am from the 2nd floor facing South
Clean, organized, smells like lavender
I am from the snake plant
Left alone, yet ever growing
I am from seaweed soup on New Year’s Day and vertically challenged
From Nah Doo Sup and Pak Young Hee
I’m from the workaholics and the quiet reflectors
From ‘Stop slouching’ and ‘Swing away’
I’m from lapsed Protestantism, now questioning everything I had once accepted blindly
I’m from Seoul, South Korea, Nah that somehow became Lah
From kimchi stew and rice (not white rice, but that Thanos-colored crap with 47 types of beans in it)
From my mother’s illegal and untimely U-turn that she paid the ultimate price for
And my father’s frequent travels and subsequent calendar-making, in an attempt to forget that day
There are photos, scarves, and jewelry somewhere inside my father’s house, presumably in a box, maybe two, deep inside a closet, hidden away, with everything else that matters.
~Ben Lah, Co-Director of College Counseling
While it involves physical, emotional, and mental suffering and economic hardship for so many, the pandemic also provides us with a unique opportunity to become more fully aware of our interconnectedness and our shared humanity, to have and express greater tolerance and compassion and care for one another and for ourselves, and to better get in touch with - and abide in - the deepest part of ourselves, the part ever untouched by the events in which we are caught up, and which cause us such concern.
~Anonymous
We are about three weeks in our shelter in place order. A myriad of emotions have had a chance to ebb and flow into my daily existence. A roller coaster ride climbing up, up, up and then plummeting down, jerking me left and right, and then calming down towards the end of the ride. Soon I will know if we will be able to get off this ride and return to the safety of solid ground.
In three short (very long) weeks we’ve had time to cry, worry and mourn the loss of physical connection of friends and family. To feel anxious when grocery shopping with empty shelves and interactions with employees outfitted with gloves, masks and scared eyes. Our heart aches for those with cancelled birthday parties, weddings, graduation ceremonies and new babies you can’t hold. To feel emotional everytime we go out for a walk and passerbys cross the street to avoid closeness, or our favorite trails, parks and beaches are forbidden. Nature literally on lockdown. Our throat & chest tightens when we think about those who are sick or have lost their lives, and had to do it alone, quarantined from their dearest.
The President recently extended the “social distance” order through April 30, 2020. If we are to return to “normal” in early May, that means California residents would have been home for approximately six weeks.
How will I want us to look back at this time in history? As a six week gift from our tight schedules, long commutes and “no time” for this and that. A time for deep inner reflection. To return to or pick up that hobbie we never have time for. Deep clean, organize and declutter the car, house, yard and garage. To find a rhythm of daily movement. To cook, read, listen to music, create art. To reunite with friends we haven’t talked to in a long time via phone or video chats. Time to truly connect, or reconnect, with those you live with. Forge deep relationships that will stand the test of time. With them, but also, with you. Six weeks to recalibrate. A time to return to you.
~Rachel Garcia, Registrar
With this unfortunate and unexpected suspension of normal life, I find myself surrounded with holes—holes previously filled with sports, music practices, and conventional human interaction. This entire situation seems absurd, unrealistic, and unnatural, like a scene from a movie. But this is no movie: this is life, and it may well be our lives for months to come. On top of this sudden change of scenery, additional stresses continue to pile up (predominantly the AP tests taking place this May).
During this extraneous period, I have reflected on the nature of humanity. Humans are not designed to be cooped up in their homes, avoiding all social interactions with others. Our sociability is what defines us. Other animals engage in social behaviors, but none do so on the vast scale of humanity. We are supposed to interact with each other in three dimensions and use all of our senses. Now, we limit our interactions to a two-dimensional screen and only use our eyes and ears (if the WiFi is working properly). This domestic isolation infringes on humanity’s genetic code. Our thoughts, our languages, our feelings, our emotions all originate from social interactions. To suddenly evict those defining aspects of humanity could possibly break the very sanity that holds us together.
Yet, in spite of these drastic changes, humanity is chugging along. Although social distancing is hard, I commend the majority of humanity for complying with it. Even though it requires us to nullify the physical connections that have brought together our species for millenia, humans are excellent at adapting to new environments. I was initially skeptical about the outcome of online school. That skepticism has subsided; teachers are rapidly adapting their teaching styles to best suit an online environment, and students are accepting of these changes. Don’t lose hope; we will pull through this.
~Alex Kuncz, 11th grade student
COVID-19 is a disaster for everyone. People get sick. Some people die. In the U.S. there have been at least 234, 000 cases. Other people lose their jobs. 6.6 million Americans have filed for unemployment last week, according to the New York Times. However, as one of the lucky people in the world, I have not passed away, I am not in a hospital, and I have not lost my job (I do not have one in the first place). Even luckier, I can still receive my education at home. Of course, in this time of crisis, people suffer, but at the same time, the world learns.
To say that the world was not prepared for such an event is an understatement. Many medical facilities have been flooded with people and crucial medical equipment is running out. I never realized how important doctors were until COVID. I have always taken our health system for granted and have had little thought of how medical professionals risk their lives to save others. And this is just one of the numerous things that I had taken for granted before COVID.
Yesterday, I saw a video clip of two women violently fighting over rolls of toilet paper in a supermarket. It may seem hilarious to watch, but the thing is, these small things are so essential in our lives that we forget they are things we really need. Many people have been stocking up on supplies like food, water, and of course, toiletries. As we are all forced to stay home, we realize how much we need these basic things. You never realize what you have until you do not have it anymore. Yes, this saying is repeated a lot, but it is true. We are more likely to see the rips on the edge of a tapestry than how it is so well-woven in other parts.
Although we do not have much freedom to travel anymore, I feel extremely comfortable locked inside a 3-block radius (that’s right, I have not traveled outside a 3-block radius for a month). With so much time inside the house, I get to know the place I live a lot better. Again, this idea of realizing how much you already have just pops into your head wherever you look. I guess one of the reasons I feel fairly comfortable stuck inside a house all day is that I have enough in the house. I have food, water, shelter, education, entertainment and so much more. To be honest, I do not feel as if I have missed something by staying home. Rather, I think I have had more time to do things I want and need to do. For example, I sorted out my really messy bookshelf last week. Also, I finally started on my 2,000 piece Game of Thrones puzzle.
COVID-19 is a disaster, but that does not mean we cannot look on the bright side. It does not mean we cannot learn to appreciate what we already have. Instead, COVID-19 is an opportunity for people to see things they could not see before, and hopefully, at least for me, to finish the 2,000-piece puzzle.
~Mupine "Selene" Wang, 7th grade student
Restricting
Reimagining
Rearranging
Respecting
Revolutionizing
Recharging
Restoring
Repeating
Reopening
~Anonymous, parent of 11th grader
I've been able to draw a lot more than I usually do since I have more time at home which has a really nice way to relax, especially during times like these. I also started my own little propagation project with a couple of them already showing growth. It really feels a bit lonely when I don't get to bump into friends during the day at school but I still FaceTime them during lunch and even during Spring Break. My room has gotten kinda messy and my screentime has gone through the roof (I disabled it because it was simply too pathetic) but I think I'm doing fine. In addition, I have a lot more time with family now and my brother has come home from his job in Seattle; so, we've been playing Tractor (a card game) every night he is not on call. I also spent my birthday in quarantine yesterday which just felt like pretty much any other day in quarantine; except my mom made a cake which was very sweet of her. I'm also running out of content to stream while I draw which has led me to watching the same YouTube videos ten times (and increasing). Overall, I'm kinda enjoying quarantine to be honest. It's really nice spending time with family and doing hobbies that I normally don't have time for but I really miss my friends and even some classmates that I don't really know that well. Sorry that this was really long! I didn't quite realize how much I wanted to say.
Heading 6
~Elizabeth Jin, 8th grade student
I’ve been bonding with my dog Charlie!
~Anna Poon, 11th grade student
Social distancing and time away from school hasn’t been as liberating as it might seem. The pile of work I need to finish is growing and the days of spring break that we have left are dwindling, but one positive thing to come out of this forced self-isolation is that I finally have time to reconnect with old friends who live in different countries and different time zones. One of my closest friends from middle school in Shanghai now lives in Singapore, and it’s usually difficult for us to call and talk because of our schedules and the fifteen-hour difference. Now that both of us have more free time on our hands, we were able to finally FaceTime and catch up, which I think was a much-needed moment of positivity in a serious, uncertain time.
~Vanessa Yang, 11th grade student
Being stuck at home with nowhere to go is like waiting for the rain to pass. Hopefully COVID-19 will pass soon so we can go out and enjoy all of our bright futures.
Picking up new hobbies, skills, and bonding with your family is a great way of passing the time. I've always wanted to learn how to bake and cook, and being stuck at home just provides a reason to do so!
~Ethan Chen, 11th grade student
This morning one of my colleagues who is an essential employee and is allowed to be on campus sent me a text message to ask where some books were in the library to borrow for herself. I felt a little envious that she could be on campus because I really miss my library. So, I asked her to text back some photos.
And oh boy, I cried my eyes out.
I cried because there was our beautiful, gorgeous library. A beloved place. My home away from home.
I cried because it was empty.
No students filling up the space with energy and laughter.
I really cannot wait until we are all back on campus again.
~Alisa Brandt, MLIS, Interim Library Director
Is Being in Quarantine Making Me Socially Awkward?
The other day, during the evening, I was walking with my dad around the neighborhood. We passed by a woman taking a walk back to her car. My dad gave her a regular greeting (from a distance) while I said, "Good morning !" during the evening.
This was incredibly appaling for me, the person who used to wear two watches to keep track of time. It made me consider: Is being in quarantine making me socially awkward?
Knowing with no doubt that it was true, I increased my rate of reaching out with friends and talking to people. This was an amazing opportunity to talk to friends I haven't talked to in a long time and say: "Hi, (insert name here), how's it going?"
In result, I have strengthened a numerous amount of relationships and turned the opportunity of being socially awkward into a great chance to re-bond with my old friends!
I noticed my neighbors doing this, too, but with a long distance between them. In fact, a couple hours ago, I saw a woman I didn't even know existed in my neighborhood going to talk with a couple other neighbors from a distance. My own parents started texting our next door neighbors more often, talking about what food our neighbor and we didn't have. Even though this was just about food, it has drawn our neighbor closer to my parents. I think that even thought we are currently in our houses, we can take this moment to get closer to family members, neighbors, and friends.
~Angelina Kim, 7th grade student
"COVID"
It's Monday: it's still a workday,
but I can't go further than my driveway.
It's Tuesday: a remote learning school day, but who wants to write an essay?
It's Wednesday: I'm told to J-U-S-T stay, cover my face, so I don't spray.
It's Thursday: kitchen is like a buffet,
oh my- cookies, cakes, and souffle!
It's Friday: I see sun ray and blue jay,
I just want to go out to play.
It's Saturday: need to get out , getaway,
but where to- Taipei or Norway?
It's Sunday: I've kept COVID far far away,
but for how long, I can not say.
Lockdown and quarantine ... is this DOOMSDAY?
Social distancing, we must OBEY.
So what day is it, ANYWAY?
~Grace S., mom of an 11th grader
Spring break during the COVID-19 lockdown gave me the opportunity to learn how to cook many dishes and bake a Black Forest Cake from scratch. Although my mom supervised the kitchen at times, I prepped all the ingredients, plated the finished food, and washed the dirty pots and utensils. I was ecstatic that my family (including my grandparents who regularly cook themselves and are rather picky) enjoyed my cooking!
Cooking daily during the second week of my spring break reminded me that it takes time and determination to learn a new skill. When we use the excuse of a ‘lack of talent’, we prevent ourselves from achieving new experiences and goals. I vow to find time to give myself a chance to pick up new skills throughout my life. Time is a very empowering resource, I hope we will use it to our advantage!
