Dear Friends,

It's been a rough couple of months, wouldn't you say?  

How are you doing?  

No matter what happens, we are going to get through this.  That doesn't mean that the road ahead will be easy and bump-free, it just means that we're all in this together and from my experience, you can reach out to almost anyone and get some form of help.  

No matter what happens in the election, we will get through it!  We will carry on and move forward.  I'm writing this on election day and I have no idea what the results will be or even if we'll know the results a week from now.  But I do know that YOU are in charge of YOUR next 4 years.  No matter who is in office and what policies get made, you are in charge of your own reaction.  Even if you get side-tracked from your original plan, you can still eventually make it to your destination.  Make sure to take care of your mental well-being at this time.  Be proactive in reaching out to friends, family, or professionals who can help you.

No matter how tired we get of this pandemic, we will get through it!  I know these past 7 months have seemed to last forever.  We are all facing new normals of social distancing, mask wearing, and uncertainty.  It's difficult.  Sometimes the people around you might look like they have it all together and that it's not bothering them.  Chances are, they are feeling the same concerns as you are.  Allow yourself to feel whatever emotion or fear that comes up and KNOW that it will not last forever.  Think of this as a tunnel that you have to get through.  It's part of your journey or your quest.  And there are millions of people on the same journey, just trying to find their way through.  Find the way that brings you the most peace and if you have the bandwidth, help someone else along the way.

No matter how stuck we get, we'll get through it!  You have a lot of homework and it feels overwhelming.  You might not be getting the break you need to absorb it all and you might be getting stuck on problems that you don't know how to solve.  We've all been there.  Different problems that need to be solved, but stuck, none-the-less.  Breathe...break things down into the simplest tasks and ask for help.  Remember, you can always reach out to your faculty, TA, or fellow students.  You can collaborate on homework over Slack, Discord, or through Brightspace.  Just ask, there is nothing wrong with asking!  If you're struggling with writing at all, then check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).   

Find your source of comfort.  Find friends (old or new) that you can laugh, vent, or cry with.  Find ways to release your pent up emotions.  For me, that's writing down every single feeling I have, like a wrung-out piece of cloth, and then embarrassingly sharing them with people.  Find beauty in the world around you and things that inspire you.  I like to turn to movies and literature.  I find comfort and peace in quotes like this one from J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King:

 "For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach."

We will get through this!  If you need to reach out to me, you can find me at rhaan@purdue.edu

Written by Rhonda Haan

 Photo Credit:  Caleb Jones, Unsplash.com