Letter From the Editor Dear Reader, To say that this past couple of weeks have been a blur would be a complete understatement. Adjusting to this semester has been extremely challenging. The word that best describes how I feel right now is tired. Firstly, we didn’t get our usual fall break— a full week of no classes— which I really underestimated the impact of. I thought to myself, “No big deal, I can work with it.” In the past, I used fall break as a time to recover, with the hopes that I could resume our regular schedules and finish the semester strong. But for many students like me, that wasn’t really the case this semester. Students had a weird mix of midterms given to us before, during and after our shortened fall break, with many not really getting the chance to properly rest. I caught my mental health slipping up this past month and it’s really easy to burn out at this time of the year. The conditions that COVID-19 presents us can even worsen our mental health. I highly recommend talking to a counselor or mental health professional if you’re feeling stressed, anxious, extremely sad or any combination of those three. We’re lucky here at USF because we have easily accessible mental health professionals. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. This is your reminder to prioritize your well-being, so I hope you do something for yourself today. Another form of tiredness is the kind that arises when expectations are let down, the tiredness that arises when we get disappointed more than once. Real talk: I was excited to go back to school and I had really high hopes of how USF would handle COVID-19. I saw the infrared screens, the masks and designated entryways. But as the weeks went by, I saw how enforcement of the rules — social distancing, mask-wearing— became more lenient. I would see people wearing masks like they were chin guards. I could observe groups of students congregating on campus on my way to class, at a time where Illinois’ case count has been steadily increasing. And most notably, I noticed that USF had not really communicated anything about COVID-19 cases. That is until The Encounter published an online opinion article by an anonymous writer, which criticized the university’s lack of COVID-19 communications to students. Publishing the article worked; it resulted in the clarification that many students wanted. I realized that having these kinds of difficult and uncomfortable discussions is tiring. It can take a lot out of you but sometimes it can be used for good and help you grow. Talking about your mental health to improve your mental health, that can be tiring. Voicing concerns about COVID-19 and how that affects your college campus, that can also be tiring. We’ve titled this issue “Let’s Talk About It” and devoted it to topics that might be difficult, awkward and uncomfortable. These topics include USF’s COVID-19 communications, menstruation, mental health issues, political differences, and many more. I promise you that this issue is not all serious and depressing topics. But I do hope it makes you wonder what kind of uncomfortable topics you have to address in your personal life and your community for true growth and improvement to occur.
Janelle Suriaga Editor-in-Chief
4
November 2, 2020
