Reaching Out

COVID affected all of us in different ways. Even now, as we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we start to instead look back at the time we spent in isolation and wonder if we could have spent it better. We sometimes feel guilt for not wanting to do anything except be alone. We have so much technology, allowing us to be connected in an instant, and yet we often feel that we don't have the energy or motivation to make use of it. When we feel critical about ourselves in this way, it helps to hear from others who feel the same. Many students found that they shared these same experiences and feelings as we spoke with each other in a valuable introspective class. Hopefully many students felt a renewed drive to reach out to old friends, and to support the new friends they are finding here at the Academy. Students also spent the first class of the day building their Japanese language skills, which will in turn give them greater confidence and motivation to reach out to Japanese speakers both here in Virginia and on the other side of the world. This evening, we did exactly that. We were reminded yet again of the wonders of technology as we paired our entire Academy with the TUINS school in Japan to speak live with each other over the internet. Now, more than ever, we have the means of reaching out across any imaginable boundary, as long as we have the desire to do so. As the world begins to recover, language and communication will be the bridge that leads us forward together.