When will this be over?

It’s a question a lot of us have been asking ourselves. It’s a question healthcare workers and infectious disease specialists have been trying to figure out how to answer accurately and responsible.

Currently, it’s a question without an answer, which leaves us with awkward follow up questions, such as “how can I plan for the future because I don’t know when it will be safe to be out and about?”

Wally and I are both past 70. I have had some respiratory issues my whole life that make me more vulnerable and though Wally is really healthy, his office is understandably concerned. We both agreed that we’ll stay put at least another month.

The critical thing right now is that people follow the guidelines. I know people don’t like to be told what to do but the health of our community is more important than our pride.

For now, we have to get comfortable with uncertainty. We will have answers to different questions at different points in time, but patience and following health and safety guidelines are going to be key for our community. We need to play the long game by being okay with staying still, or taking the smallest of steps.

Speaking of, the Chancellors have recently made decisions about when they’ll start to let people come back onto University of Nebraska campuses as needed. Different campuses have different dates, depending on the local circumstances.

UNL is opening campus up for limited necessary business on May 11.

UNO and UNMC are following suit on May 15.

UNK is planning on doing so May 18. Their later date is related to the hot spot that they’re in relative to the virus. If pandemic circumstances demand they push the date for everyone’s safety, they will.

In an effort to provide clear and informed guidance on when and how to safely re-open schools, University of Nebraska president Ted Carter has been working with a high level admin group – in tandem with UNMC and the Global Center for Health Security – to put together a pandemic recovery checklist that they will share with any higher education entity that wants it.

The idea is to create a plan for how you as a school can make sure you’re ready for your students to come back to campus safely.

It has a three-phase approach and will be a great practical tool especially for people who are making decisions that affect students, faculty, and staff. It’s a service that this group is doing for the greater good of higher education and students everywhere, and I’ll be able to share more about it when it’s ready to be released.

But it did get me thinking about what it is we can do for each other in the meantime.

It’s important that we remember to thank all the medical professionals and essential workers on the front line who endanger themselves every day to keep society functioning. We should thank our faculty who have been working diligently on ways to improve our teaching content remotely. There are so many incredible people who have been going above and beyond.

A thank you seems like a small deal but it makes a big difference. I’ve been trying to do little things to indicate my appreciation. I have a yard full of tulips right now, so when I had to pick up some medicine for my dog, I took some tulips in a cup as a little thank you.

I don’t know what a simple gesture of appreciation looks like for you, but it doesn’t hurt to keep in mind that it’s something we can do, it doesn’t take any time, and it makes a difference in someone’s day.

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.