For the 2020-2021 school year, which was supposed to be my 2nd and last year of graduate school, I dropped down to part time at BU in order to be able to stay home with my kids and faciliate their learning remotely. Their schools were closed and later hybrid due to the covid-19 pandemic. It was the right choice for my family, but definitely hard to put my finally-in-motion degree on the back burner. I turned my home office into a classroom, with desks and shelves, writing paper, dry erase board, and the alphabet on the wall. My kids were in 1st grade and preschool, and boy did my handwriting improve doing their writing lessons alongside them.

I was grateful to still be connected to the school, but I was remote for the entire school year (like so many others) and I really missed going to the city and being in the studio, and being around other people. I even drove into the city and sat in my car on Comm Ave for a little bit to write on my 39th birthday.

I took one class per semester and was a TA for Graphic Design History (lucky, because I got to spend time with what would become my beloved 2nd year classmates♥). One of the classes I took was Performative Text and Design, which is an "interdisciplinary seminar explor[ing] the intersections of text, design, performance, publishing, and activism."; a perfect course during a year of so much confusion, unrest, and uncertainty.

I valued having my studies as an anchor (even part time) during a period where I wasn't sure that my life would ever return to normal. I will always remember the faculty and my classmates for creating a community when I was mourning so much.