2020 has not been a fun year. After a catastrophic spring semester and a tumultuous and uncertain summer, New York City appears, at the beginning of the fall semester, to have settled down to some extent. At least for now.

However, we are still in the middle of a crisis. Some of us have come down sick ourselves. Some of us have lost loved ones. Some of us are struggling with financial pressures amid unprecedented unemployment. Some of us who seem relatively okay are not really okay. Quarantine is hard on everyone.

You are all doing something amazing by trying to continue your studies during this time and I am proud of you for just signing up. It will be an unusual semester, to say the least.

Distance learning is still new to many of us and we will need to be patient and flexible. Most of your activities for our class will be asynchronous, which hopefully means you won’t have to spend hours and hours on Zoom every day! But this means that you must carry even more responsibility to stay on top of your work. Try not to let your work slip. Do your best to follow the week-by-week schedule.

That being said, your health and your well being should be your priority. If something comes up that interferes with your work for this class (for example, if you fall sick or if you must care for someone who is sick), let your instructor know what you need. We will do our best to make adjustments and find a solution that works for you.

You can contact the college’s counseling center with the information here. If you would like to discuss something with them, they can let your instructors know what you need without sharing confidential or private information with them.