Dr. Rosalyn | In the Middle of Each Storm, There Can Be a Burst of Light

 

The last few weeks has involved a ridiculous number of meetings on top of classes on top of article reviews and you know the normal hustle and bustle that is my life.  The extraneous things of COVID and an extremely contentious presidential campaign season just added to what could have been an overwhelming period of time.  I don't want to delve deeply in there right now though because in the midst of all of that other things happened that I want to shout out.  

The first being I was actually on top of and got ahead of my work on a presentation this week and I did not get through all of my slides this time because we were having a good conversations.  Those are always hit or miss but thank you to the Four County interns for helping me reset my energy midweek.  My students asked good questions and turned in thoughtful work which helps too.  I know they are just as tired as I am but hey we're going to get through this together or die trying.  Hopefully not really, hopefully that is just a euphemism.  I actually called and scheduled my doctor appointment after cancelling it a few months back because I was wiped out.  I'm good and healthy and we are going to tweak the meds to keep me that way.  I got my flu shot and then got a much needed massage.  Y'all get as long a massage as your body needs.  I'm a fan of 90 minutes because it lets me chat a bit and then snooze for a bit.  I touched base with a realtor about the prospects of finding the home I need for me and mom and got some good advice.  Came home, had a good dinner, got groceries delivered, got a check I wasn't expecting and then after many many delays my second travel fund showed up on the list on the give.iu.edu page.  

If you go to that page (give.iu.edu) you can search for both the IU Kokomo Psychology Student Travel Fund and the Davis Family Diversity Travel Scholarship.  I set up my payroll deduction for those and a few other funds tonight, well early this morning and have to let friends and family know so they can make donations as well.  These funds are both very important to me because I know our students and I know how much they want to do things but that finances are a huge stumbling block.  I have been very lucky to take probably 100 different students on funded trips but things like Europe always need more support.  We were very grateful, and lucky, that the advancement office led by Jan Halperin were able to secure us funding for the most expensive part of our previous trip.  We also were able to secure funds from Women of the Wellhouse which is another donor funded group.  We collectively work hard for our students but being able to make focused asks is never a bad thing.  

This will probably sound kinda superstitious so I apologize now.  Part of why I started each of these funds was because I got unexpected money earlier this year and my southern roots firmly believe when you "find money" that you should do something good with it.  My work with student travel led me to think about what these funds could do for our students and our campus.  Timing is also important to me.  Almost two decades ago I was living in an apartment in Muncie, Indiana grieving the loss of my father, working on a doctoral degree and somewhere in my foolish brain it seemed like a good idea to pledge my sorority.  I've never regretted those second two things but as I was preparing for the third one of those southern roots things popped up.  My bathroom sink sprung a leak and they fixed it while I was in class.  I get home and the whole new sink was all decked out in Delta fixtures.  I was getting ready to attend the rush for Delta Sigma Theta in a few days so it made me smile.  I went to said rush and when I picked up my packet, it was number 8.  That also ended up being my line number, 8.  And this is the start of my eighth year at IUK.  Well not start anymore but you know what I mean.  The money was the impetus but the timing is just kismet for me at this point.  The fund has my last name mostly to honor my father's memory as he either encouraged or was directly responsible for most of the travel I experienced in my life.  My first passport stamp came well before I was old enough to have my own passport.  I'm actually talking to the one school my entire immediate family has in common about starting a similar fund there.  It may take longer to establish but it's in my head now.

So yes, the election cycle is making me stressed.  And I'm still fingers crossed that no one I care about gets COVID and that we don't have to prematurely close campus because of it.  And in so many ways there is just entirely too much work and too many Zoom calls.  But despite all of that there are people doing good things, trying to support one another, and doing what they can to be a bright spot for other people.  The question we need to ask ourselves in the moments of respite are what have we done or what can we do to be the break in the storm for other people when we can.  We also need to do that for ourselves.  Eat the cookie, take the vacation--whenever we are free to roam the world again, meet up with friends, and watch the silly movie.  We need those moments for ourselves and others more now than ever.