By Claire Neiberg, English Major / D.U. Quark Intern
Before I started writing out this post, I was scrolling through our site and came across my post from last year titled, “Quarantine Age Wasteland.”
Two things about that post immediately stood out to me:
- My first goal of the semester is to formulate less cheesy titles (although I must admit, I was kind of proud of that one because The Who’s discography did carry me through quarantine).
- And wow. So much as changed.
That blog post was written on April 2nd. 22 days after Duquesne announced that we would be sent home for two weeks. Because COVID would be under control in two weeks. And life would bounce back to normal after two weeks.
Well, over six months later, here I am. Typing in one of the 300 face masks I have made since July. I can’t say quarantine was a total waste of time because I was able to prepare for the LSAT, walk a lot of dogs, start a face mask business that took off faster than COVID took off, and spend five months home with my family. I really can’t complain.
As much has changed, I take comfort in knowing that some things have not. One of those things is my internship. I really wanted to retake my internship with The D.U. Quark mainly because I felt as if I had lost a lot of opportunities to plan in person events (again, well……). Regardless of Duquesne’s new (and necessary restrictions) I am still more than excited to be back at school and am thrilled to intern with The D.U. Quark again—even if it is mostly remote.
A term I have been throwing around through quarantine and these last six months is “a new normal.” I don’t think it’s realistic to keep anticipating “life going back to normal.” However, I am a firm believer in embracing change and rolling with the punches. I have had to do this every day as I adjust to mask-wearing, not being able to go home for a much needed weekend at home, online Mock Trial, being on the Exec. Board for four other online clubs, trying to stick with my R-Pod, and being one of the 800 lucky ones to get a COVID swab stuck up my nose. Twice. The list goes on.
In terms of this internship, I do feel secure in the fact that this is my third year on The Quark, and I came up with a solid plan at the end of last semester if we were to be fully online that I am planning to follow. I actually was able to do some work ahead of time and make an video to advertise our club at the EXPO and am learning new things on Canva each day. Point blank, it’s going to be a hard semester, but like last semester, this summer, I will make it work. It’s already working.
Building Bridges 