Getting out of Unprecedented Times Successfully

By Giacomo Sproccati, FSU Florence Student Life and Health Services Coordinator

When was the last time you hugged someone you care for? The situation we are currently living in comes with many challenges, but we shall not oversee the opportunity it brings about. I find this important because we are surrounded by negative messages. While it is impossible to deny the misfortunes that covid-19 generated, it is equally important to shine a more positive light on its favorable circumstances. This virus is forcing us to change our routine and pay more attention to habitual gestures we used to take for granted. As much as this challenge seems hard to face in the present moment, we know for a fact that it will not continue on forever, and once it will be over, we hope will be better than before.

To ensure improvements will occur, we shall focus on two opportunities this virus generates: appreciating time and memory. The pace of our lives has recently slowed down as we spend more time at home. The world we live in lost velocity. This allows us to have more time to consider where we are and where we would like to go. Due to extraneous circumstances, you were unable to finish your semester in Florence, but you still got to complete its first half. Six weeks in a different country are still a meaningful experience.

How has the first half of the semester changed you? What will be the next step you wish to take once our lives return to normal? Now is the time to think about it.

The challenges we are facing by staying at home most of the day are the opportunity to develop our strength and resistance, skills which will allow us to grow stronger out of the present moment. When we feel like it is too much, our memories are precious to help us find the energy to power through.

Who forgets the first gelato, see the Duomo, walk across Ponte Vecchio, the first glass of wine without being carded on your night out with new roommates and friends, the first class abroad, soccer practice? Enjoyable moments are impossible to forget and power through this difficult time will allow us to live many more soon.

To conclude, we are living an unprecedented time which will always be in our memories. In these weeks we are forced to adjust our routine, but we know it is just temporary. Don’t forget to imagine how amazing it will be when we will conquer again the normality we used to. Being able to simply get together with some friends for a pizza movie night is going to be very special for all of us.