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’

