A Year in the Pandemic: Finding My Silver Lining

Sergey Podlesnykh/Staff Writer

This article is a part of PantherNow’s opinion section “Pandemic and Me” series

I almost feel guilty for not struggling through this pandemic as badly as the rest of the world. Perhaps, the challenges of immigrant life and the military taught me to look for positive in every situation. Still, I seem to be rolling in a rather thick silver lining, disregarding the distant cloud.

I was preparing to get discharged from the Army when the pandemic hit. I was on deployment in Europe and was genuinely lucky to have my return flight moved just before the shutdown. Merely two days after landing in Texas, I found out that the deployment was extended with no set return date for everyone left behind. Initial mandatory quarantine in Ft. Hood sounded like a blessing. After living in the hive of military barracks with thirty other people, I utterly missed silence, solitude and home cooked meals.

Thanks to COVID-19 restrictions, my clearing process was streamlined, and my work schedule was surprisingly light, so I found time to enroll in FIU remotely before even returning home to Miami. When I finally returned to Florida, spending time with my family after a long separation greatly helped to deal with stay-home quarantine struggles. As a bonus, I was able to complete all the small renovation projects at home that were normally left on the back burner.

However, I was eager to get back into civilian life and start working again. In retrospect, I had the mindset of “No time to explain! Run!”. COVID-19 forced me to stop, smell the roses of life without the Army and continue my education. Often, service members after the discharge fail to fully use their educational benefits under the GI Bill, educational assistance program for veterans. They simply start working and then find themselves trapped in the swamp of their new schedule and daily routine, unable to find time for academic pursuits. I’m positive it would have happened to me too. I believe this pandemic launched me in the right direction at the right time. With lack of jobs out there, full-time enrollment at FIU became a viable alternative for me.

While doing an assignment for one of my classes, I stumbled upon PantherNOW. It sparked my old, almost forgotten passion anew. I was always keen on writing and sharing random ideas. Two interviews later, I joined the team of open-minded enthusiasts. Almost a year later, I still enjoy getting inspired and inspiring others with the help of the Student Media team.

Travel restrictions prevented me from visiting my parents in Russia, but on the bright side they are healthy and doing well. They both timely retired at the end of 2019, so conveniently, their employment wasn’t affected by the shutdown. Maybe this “COVID-19 luck” runs in the family?  

I am obviously not trying to downplay the worst pandemic in the last hundred years. I’m getting tired of it, just like everyone else, and I wish it would end very soon. This past year wasn’t exactly full of rainbows and fairy dust for me either. But as you might have noticed, I skipped those moments and shared only the better ones – those that I want to remember.

I hope you can do the same and, despite the challenges of the most unusual year in our lifetime, find that silver lining for yourself. Rolling Stones might have been right, after all.

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need.

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community.

If you would like to share your pandemic story with us please contact: gabriela.enamorado@fiusm.com

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