Claire Neiberg
It’s Corona time!
Just kidding.
But not really.
At some point in the next two days, I will be going home. Duquesne has canceled in-person classes until April, but judging by the amount of stuff I plan to bring home and the talk I have heard around the school (and the world) in the past couple of days, I do not think I’ll be back to finish out the semester.
With that being said, I am disappointed and feel inconvenienced. While I am a homebody and very close to my family and still have many friends in my hometown, I do not want to do the rest of the semester online. Anyone in my classes can tell you that I love being part of discussion, presenting, and the overall social aspect of a face-to-face class.
However, I recognize that we live in a globalized world where personal inconvenience is a small price to pay for the safety of our global community. If moving my life online means just one person’s life will be saved—then it will all be worth it.
But what does it mean for this internship?
Luckily, I don’t actually need to have any face-to-face components to be successful in this internship. Part of the real world is learning to adapt. After talking to both Meredith and Dr. K., I have decided that I will not be putting any of my efforts toward in-person events. Instead, I am shifting my direction entirely to online platforms.
Here are my goals:.
- Continue the Women in STEM contest. (Maybe do digital Starbucks gift cards as prizes?)
- Create a graphic design advertisement announcing our online shift
- Focus on student interviews via email/text/FaceTime etc.
Things will change. Things will develop. It’s quite frightening to know that there is very little that is guaranteed in the upcoming weeks. However, Duquesne is resilient, and I am glad we are taking precautionary measures.
So no, while I won’t be ordering and indulging half my weight in buffalo chicken dip for our Nitespot event on March 25th, I will still continue to promote The D.U. Quark’s message and purpose the best I can.
Corona can kick it.
Building Bridges 