Coronavirus

Last spring, in acknowledgment of the challenge and of the emotional toll this isolation is taking, I sent links to websites outlining the Hero’s Journey as a paradigm for channeling the highs and lows of this unprecedented time into a storyline that might help transform and redeem the experience. I even included a diagram that illustrated the stages of that journey for young people.

Shortly after I sent the mail to parents and staff, I received a reply from Ed Hipp, long-time friend of the school and golf coach extraordinaire.  He gave me permission to quote him here, as I believe his poetic commentary will help all of us understand that, while we did not choose the circumstances, the journey itself is a choice:

I was a wee bit surprised to see the second beat in the journey left out of the diagram:  the refusal of the call.

Not a big deal …

But distinguishing the refusal of the call can help us understand a lot of our behavior and reactions,

Especially in journeys like the current one in which most folks have an emotional resistance to the adventure because they don’t feel that they chose it …

But instead, they feel to be victims in it.

 Also, it might help some folks use the journey in understanding their own process …

To know that sometimes the journey is not as linear an experience as the diagram might be taken to indicate.

The journey often wanders a bit, going backward and forwards, two steps forward and one step back.

… just a couple of whimsical offerings from the peanut gallery.

Blessings, Ed Hipp

These are profound insights indeed, and I want to thank Ed for sharing them.

On a more whimsical note, I recently came across this particular version of the journey, adapted for our circumstances, and shared by the creative writing department at MIU. You can substitute your own essential item if you are not a coffee drinker:

Apologies to Ed, since even this model leaves out the right of refusal—but we must find humor where we can.

But in all seriousness, we continue to be aware of how challenging our students (and you) are finding this form of learning—and it’s no walk in the park for our teachers either.  We are finding ways to switch it up through “flipped classrooms” and by using features like break-out rooms and to connect with students individually through “office hours,” even when those hours come in the evening for students who have returned to their homes in China or Korea, where time differences mean many of their most important classes happen in the middle of the night.

Stay healthy and heroic!

Warm regards,

Kaye Jacob, Academic Director

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