Across the Bridge

Johann May

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a globally catastrophic and horrifying event. It has infected and killed many people and, as of the current date, shows no sign of stopping anytime soon. It threatens the economy and, therefore, the livelihood of a great proportion of people. Moreover, it has severely inhibited a crucial element of human life: social interaction. Beyond being unable to spend time with friends and much of our close family in a local setting, college students have been uprooted from their natural social setting, forced to leave friends and, at times, travel up to thousands of miles away from them. This pandemic has brought varying shades of catastrophe upon humanity, in a strangely encompassing manner.

I selected the above image because, out of a number of photos my sister has taken during quarantine, this resonated with me most. In the same way that COVID-19 has distanced me from my life in the United States with my friends in the Harvard community, so does the Niagara River distance the United States from Canada. I have biked to the site where this picture was taken a couple times since being home. It’s a nice space.

When I reflect on this crisis, I cherish how lucky I am. My family will likely not be financially impacted, at least not in a severe sense. I live in a very socially equitable space and my close family as well as local community have been in relatively excellent health throughout this pandemic. Save for prematurely ending my (on-campus) first year of college and separating me from my crew team and friends, this pandemic has essentially allowed me to take a step back from my otherwise busy life and spend time with my loving family: people with which I haven’t had much time over the last year and a half. The juxtaposition of my reality with the reality faced by people around the world — who were less well off than me before the pandemic — really sheds light on the underlying global inequity that exists, even in a time when major corporations have the technology and resources to, almost seamlessly, continue remote operation.