31 March 2020 Up and Down. Pitch and Roll

Up and down. Up and down. Up and down. Am I aboard the Sikuliaq already? No, it is just life in the time of Covid-19. From the motivational highs of connecting with my PolarTREC cohort to the lows of feeling powerless to try to help a student suffering from depression, I felt like very little in my life was stable. Pitch and roll. Pitch and roll. Pitch and roll. I was trying to juggle E-Learning activities for 5 classes, re-negotiate the homelife with a returned 21 year old college junior and an 18 year old high school senior struggling with a 'hijacked' senior year and college decisions, and make sense of the uncertainty of the current situation. Every time I feel like I know what direction we are heading, things change course.

Then calm. My students 'show up' for optional Office Hours just because they want to talk. I re-connect with friends and family on my late evening walks with the dog. My family spends time playing games and binge-watching bad TV. Yet, despite the continual 'movement,' I am very aware that these are very small ripples in a very wide ocean. I am sure that there will be many days like these ahead, but we will stay the course.

One Wave Through the Porthole! Video

Video taken by PolarTREC teacher Lisa Seff while aboard the R/V Sikiluaq as part of the expedition Upwelling and Ecology of the Beaufort SeaThe Beaufort Sea lies to the north of Alaska and the Yukon and Northwest Territories.