Such are the times

Harry Scherer
Class of 2022

(12/2020) This semester was one for the books. Some were in the classroom; others surveyed those in the classroom from their dorms. There were almost no booths in Patriot. Everyone wore masks. There was no delightfully restful fall break in the calendar. But we made it.

When I and all of my classmates were sent home in March of this year, the slightly liberal prediction was that we would return after Easter instead of the two weeks suggested by the university. Of course, now we know that even the liberal view was far too conservative. When we spent the rest of the semester off-campus, we waited with expectation to return to Mary’s Mountain. Few people, including faculty and administrators, thought we would not make it to the end of the semester on campus. But we made it.

How did we make it? It would be irresponsible to not admit the two reasons for the success: prayer and cooperation. In the first place, the Mount would not be who she is today without the innumerable graces pouring down through our Blessed Mother from the Grotto, seminary and the faithful students, faculty, administration and staff at the university. The Mount is a unique place in the encyclopedia of American Catholic history not only because of her saintly history but because of all those who have continued to stay faithful throughout the centuries. Indeed, the spiritual reasons for the university’s success this fall should not be overlooked by anyone who has eyes to see, especially if we want to try to do the same thing in the spring.

The secondary reason for the Mount’s successful in-person semester is the cooperation among the students, faculty, administration and staff. All four of these groups proved that they had skin in the game by their unexpected willingness to overlook their own metrics of success and join in a common mission. While varying opinions were certainly offered in appropriate fora throughout the semester, everyone was ready to admit that they knew little about how the semester would look but would be willing to do whatever it took to stay on campus for the duration of the semester.

Next semester, I anticipate that everyone on campus will work with the same zeal to stay on campus. The hard work that took place in the fall will certainly provide benefits for the spring. In the first place, we now know what works to enjoy an in-person semester with the strange external circumstances. Many of the questions that started the fall semester have already been answered and that knowledge will prove to be invaluable for the spring. Secondly, we are going to be strengthened by the assurance that we can fulfill the necessary requirements to stay on campus because we already fulfilled them in the fall with only a few challenges.

I anticipate that the two-month break will also be an asset in preparing us for the semester ahead. Hopefully, this time of rest will provide administrators, faculty and students the opportunity to reflect on two things. First, we can reflect on what they would have changed about the fall semester if we had the current knowledge that developed over the course of the three months. These considerations will hopefully allow every person in the Mount community to alter that which demands alteration for the spring. Second, we can spend time in gratitude for the ability to stay on campus in the fall. Because of the unlikelihood of our success, we should generously embrace this break as a time to be grateful for the past, present and opportunities that will present themselves in the future.

Hopefully, after and while resting in this gratitude, we can be impelled to action as a result of this rest. We are given a time in these next two months to read, write, socialize and sleep so that we can primarily enjoy them for their own sakes and secondarily use them as a springboard for more scheduled and intense action in the spring. Throughout the month of November in Emmitsburg, every person to whom I talked about the subject was insistent, consistent and persistent in voicing his desire for a break. The spring semester will probably be very similar because we will miss our spring break and will be in the position of having to steamroll through the semester. While this method might reduce the number of trips throughout the semester, it still requires an immense amount of work to stay energized through the end of the term.

What might help students keep the faith throughout the term is a slight change in tone from the fall term. Because the societal shock of everything that occurred after March was just starting to wear off as the fall semester started, everyone was still accustomed to identifying the times as "unprecedented" or "strange." While these observations might be true, a regular reminder of this truth is not particularly inspiring when we have to do the work that we have been assigned to complete. What does not lack precedent is our classwork, the obligations that we have to our families and friends, our extracurricular activities and the typical thoughts and cares that go along with college life. My peers and I are keenly aware that there are parts of our current times that lack precedent; a regular reminder of this fact does not need to be provided.

This past fall semester reminds me of a line out of Augustine: "Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times." This fall, we lived well and the times were good. It is my prayer that we take the time that we have been given for the next few months to reflect on these good times and hope to replicate and multiply them in the spring.

Read other articles by Harry Scherer