Leaning into the little moments: One year amidst COVID-19

I like to think that all of us have our own Chapel Hill love story — a carefully crafted and highly individualized shard of time that illuminates that exact moment our connection to this campus was born.

For me, this moment came in December of 2017, when I visited Chapel Hill for the first time to interview at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Though the larger campus was mostly empty and silent following the end of another fall semester, the students, staff and faculty I met spoke about an electric and captivating learning experience guided by core values of togetherness, empathy and resilience. “You will be challenged repeatedly during your time here,” they all said throughout that interview day. But, they added, you will never have to rise to these challenges alone.

While it has been more than three years since my interview, and almost three years since I started pharmacy school, I remain steadfast in my belief that these core values are embedded within the constellation that is the Carolina journey. I like to think that, while it may be the athletics, research expertise, professional development opportunities and rigorous curricula that draw students to Carolina, it is our connections to one another that keep us grounded to this place and empower us to make our community safer, healthier and more excellent for those who come after us.

Since starting graduate school, I have discovered and nurtured the deepest of connections in what we might consider to be the smallest of moments. From early morning bus rides to late-night study sessions with friends, so much of my experience at Carolina has revolved around spending time with others and growing from their kindness. Like many of you, I did not realize the immense value of these little moments until the COVID-19 pandemic rendered them few and far between.

Throughout the past year, our campus community — and society as a whole — have had to confront tragedy, loss and burnout while transitioning to an unprecedented model of living and working from home. Processing recurring incidents of police brutality, caustic political rhetoric, overt threats to our democratic pillars and the exacerbation of inequities in our health care and educational institutions has been all the more taxing when we are unable to do so with one another.

In reflecting on the past year, I am all the more grateful for the video calls with friends, the active texting chats and the Zoom meetings in which my professors and mentors embraced empathy and understanding. Indeed, the power of these little moments has been especially felt over the past 13 months.

Despite the challenges and strife that the past year has presented, I am eager for what the months ahead hold. Community-centered vaccination education, enhanced attention to how our work and learning spaces promote psychosocial wellness and an emphasis on rekindling the little moments distorted by the pandemic leave me feeling hopeful and grateful. I hope that, as we prepare to one day transition back to a “pre-pandemic” way of living, we continue to prioritize these little moments and the beauty they hold.

The challenges ahead may certainly be plentiful — but we certainly do not have to rise to them alone.