It is during times like this,
when normalcy escapes us and
uncertainty consumes us, that
what defines us becomes clear. Our
identities as Wolverines no longer
hinge on the routines we had on
campus, but rather on the integral
parts of our identity which allow
us to claim ownership over the
title “leaders and best.” Through
our resilience, leadership, and
connectedness, we are able to feel
like a Wolverine during a time
where being a Wolverine looks
entirely different than before.
Engineering
junior
Bashar
Hallak, Baalbek, Lebanon native,
described his transition to online
classes as, “less busy with life in
general and having more time to
think about others.”
He worries about how the
already disadvantaged people of
his hometown would survive the
pandemic. The current crippling
position of Baalbek, void of basic
necessities, was detailed to him
by his relatives and friends back
home, and inspired Hallak to
launch a charity campaign to
support his people.
“I was thinking about the
people of my town last week: what
are they doing now, how are they
surviving this pandemic, they
are already underprivileged and
most of them don’t have jobs,”
Hallak said. “Even my friends
that have degrees back home can’t
find jobs because the country is
doing very bad economically. So
... I called my dad and asked him
what the situation in Baalbek
is: the situation here is very bad
Baba, people literally have nothing
to eat, and no money to support
themselves’”
Within less than 24 hours of
the campaign launching, over
200 people shared the campaign
with others, not only spreading
awareness
of
the
people
of
Baalbek’s
struggles,
but
also
spreading
empathy.
Halak’s
campaign has successfully raised
over $2,400 that will be donated
to Safe Side, a nonprofit that
distributes food to
disadvantaged
families in Baalbek.
Concerned
by
the effect COVID-
19
will
have
on
small
businesses
in Ann Arbor, the
new
members
of
Delta Sigma Pi-Xi, a
business fraternity,
started a Go-Fund-
Me in support of
local
businesses
in Ann Arbor. DSP
plans to donate the
money to businesses
ranging
from
the
Ozone
House,
a
nonprofit
that
provides shelter and
support to homeless
youth, to Rays Red
Hots,
a
popular
dining
spot
for
Wolverines, aiming, “to support
the organizations and people that
have given life to the place we
love so much.” Already raising
over $600, DSP plans to continue
pushing their campaign until we
return to school.
LSA senior Clara Munkarah
spent a few of her final moments as
a Wolverine organizing a charity
virtual cup pong tournament in
which over 25 Wolverines are
participating in. The winner of the
virtual cup pong tournament will
choose where the participants’
donated money to the tournament
will go.
“Honestly I just felt pretty
helpless being stuck at home and
recognizing how many hardships
so many people are going through
right now,” Munkarah said. “So
I figured, why not combine the
two and make something fun and
useful out of it? It wasn’t about
how many people signed up or
how much money was raised, if we
could just unite a few friends and
donate money to help someone, it
would make quarantine feel worth
it.”
Munkarah’s tournament is a
small example of the importance
of holding onto our connectedness
during these unprecedented times.
In an attempt to write this
piece, I reached out to various
groups on campus asking if they
were doing inspiring work or felt
inspired by the works of others.
I was overwhelmed by the many
responses I received of students
volunteering to get groceries for
the elderly, packaging food for
low income families, collecting
donations for local businesses in
their area, and taking the time to
handwrite letters to elderly people
who are isolated from others. With
each message I received, I felt
more assured that when we return
to school our campus will be more
resilient than ever, and that there
is incredible meaning behind the
phrase, “the Michigan difference.”
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Michigan in Color
Monday, April 6, 2020 — 3
The Michigan Difference
MAYA KADOUH
MiC Columnist
‘Guide Me, Said
the Grapevine’
UNSPLASH
“Either write something worth
reading or do something worth
writing.” A friend gifted me a
brown leather journal with this
quote on the cover in eighth grade.
Today, I am left with a large
collection of journals accumulated
over the years, halfway filled with
week-long, month-long, sometimes
year-long intervals in between.
Mirroring this is the stack of books
on my bookshelf, sadly abandoned
and promised a return.To my
defense, I do think my memories
were worth writing down— they
just got lost in the promise of
tomorrow.
Despite
my
inconsistency,
writing gave me the opportunity
to look back at previous seasons of
life and compare them with seasons
I am in now, laugh at my angsty
teenage self and relate to who I was
many moons ago. So now, trying to
find the inspiration and attention
span to pen my thoughts down
again, I flip through my most recent
journal, stumbling upon the “List
of things I learned in 2019” I wrote
on New Year’s Eve. Number six on
the list catches my eye: Don’t be
afraid to go out and take risks, take
airplanes, take propositions. But
also don’t be afraid to stay. Don’t be
afraid to slow down once in a while.
You’re not missing out on anything.
The advice of my former self
rings true now more than ever.
Throughout my three years at
college, I had rushed to make the
most out of the time I knew would
come to an end too soon. I joined
every organization that sparked
my interest. I worked three jobs at
once. I filled up every summer with
a study abroad trip, jam-packed
with side trips in between until my
exhaustion overpowered my thirst
for sight-seeing. And when I wasn’t
doing something, I was stressing
and planning for the next phase in
my life, the next summer where I
would need another internship or
job to keep me busy and productive.
That’s why, in the beginning of
the winter semester, I suffered the
inevitable burnout that I’d always
heard of but never thought would
happen to me. I was crippled with
doubts and fears about where I
was in life. I wanted so badly to be
proactive, to be avidly internship-
searching and applying to every
study abroad and job I could think
of, but the stress of school and my
responsibilities finally caught up to
me, and I quite literally couldn’t. As
adventure-hungry as I was, I found
myself fantasizing about a summer
at home, like my high school
summers, where I spent time with
my family and my friends just being
myself. I fantasized about feeling
free, unrestricted by the need to
constantly be doing something.
To not feel like I was constantly
missing
out
on
something.
Nevertheless, I forced myself to
polish up my resume and apply to
travel programs and internships,
telling myself whatever happens,
happens. After all, we’ve been
trained not to feel satisfied with
anything less than over-exertion.
Looking back to my journal entry
from New Year’s Eve, I now see
that I was making room for what
has become my reality. The current
state of our world has put a halt
on our futures, and as a result we
have been forced to look inward or
backward. Hindsight has been my
mode of thinking as of late — trying
to remember who I was before I
defined my self worth by checklists
and grades, gym days and meetings,
how thin I could stretch myself
before
I
collapsed.
I’ve
been
looking
through
old
journals.
Looking through old photographs.
Looking through my camera roll
and smiling at the silly memories
I’ve made with my friends over the
past year and letting that replace
the void now left by lack of social
interaction. Making up for lost
time with my family, catching up
on their lives that I have been out
of touch with while being so caught
up in my own.
The point of this is not to say
everyone
should
be
having
a
transformative,
self-reflective
personal journey at this time. That
is not feasible for everyone. Many
of us are living in fear for ourselves,
our loved ones, our futures, our
world. But I do think there is some
magic in the whole world being put
on pause and for once living in the
same moment, the future uncertain.
The productivity-obsessed, grind-
at-all-costs culture of our society
has
been
disrupted.
There
is
some bittersweet magic in just
hoping, waiting, praying, together.
Remembering the common thread
of humanity that we have severed
over the years. Maybe I’ll grab one
of those unfinished journals and
pick up where I left off. Maybe we’ll
come out of this better than where
we left off.
MAYA MOKH
MiC Co-Managing Editor
Addiction is like prayer
Begging for release
Craving freedom from self
Desire
Entropy is me
Freedom is not--
Guiding me home
Hanging me slowly; Hanging me slow
Inmate is me
Jah will be
Kinship
Like
Motherhood
Nectar from mother
Oxtail is home
Pride is culture
Queer me. Do not share
Remorse with those who hang me
String me in grape vine
Take me back to Jah
Unwind my spine of swine
Veil me in honeysuckle; call me sweet
Wait for me, wonder is me
Xerox my soul, call it yours, you have done so
before
Yield to youth
Zion come soon.
GABRIJELA SKOKO
MiC Senior Editor
COURTESY OF AHMAD HIDER
‘On Slowing Down’