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’