Readings lately

Around here, life has not simmered down the way I envisioned. So far, my spring break has been filled with activities, anxiety, and what feels like a long-list of to-dos that I never quite finish by the time my head hits the pillow. I've been balancing driver's ed along with AP prep and outside appointments while trying to find time to relax by watching movies with my ill cat. Along with this accretion of things to do, the stress of college admissions tops it off. Every day, new articles seem to pop up in the news regarding various aspects of this college admissions cycle.  But one thing has been keeping me grounded, and it's been reading the news (as contradicting as it may seem) and Shakespeare's plays.

Lately, the news has found a unique way of imbuing me with hope. There's a tangible light at the end of the tunnel and I can feel this energy when I open up various news apps. And while unfortunate events certainly show up in my feed, a major component of the news lately has been vaccination updates. The speed at which the United States has been able to vaccinate people amazes me. We've vaccinated over 100 million people just 50 days into Biden's presidency and the country is averaging 2 million vaccine shots per day. And earlier this week, President Biden announced that by May 1st, all adults will be eligible to sign up for a vaccine. This is simply amazing to me, considering the size of the US and the difficulty of helping people in rural areas access the vaccine. I keep reflecting on where we were just one year ago, locked up in our houses, afraid to leave our doors, wondering when life would return to normal. From the start, I had a feeling that life wouldn't glimpse normalcy until a vaccine rolled out but frankly, I didn't anticipate this moment to come so quickly. Perhaps this shows the strength of this country when emergency beckons or rather, the amazing frontiers that the US can propel in times of hardship when governments and businesses collaborate. 

I've also spent some time reading Shakespeare's plays lately. I finished Macbeth this week and I'm reading Hamlet now. Shakespeare's plays are clearly celebrated quite universally, but I consistently had a hard time grasping his old English when I tried reading them earlier. I took a break and coming back to it now, I'm surprised by how my reading comprehension has improved through high school, as I'm now able to better understand how Shakespeare employs language. His plays are quirky, dark, and rooted in lessons and understandings about human morale. I'm completely drawn to this works and I anticipate reading more of his plays later. 

This past year has been difficult for everyone, so I hope everyone has found some way or activity to ground themselves in truth and sanity. Reading has been my source of peace lately, but I'm so very much looking forward to returning to campus in the spring. Having not socialized or interacted with people my age for over a year in person, I imagine that I will need a period of reckoning with how to do so! But my oh my, this year has been crazy. Only one more week to go before the bell tower appears in the window of my car.