Managing Loss
During this quarantine, as my senior year comes to an end, I find myself reflecting a lot. These past four years have been filled with laughs and tears, ups and downs, but I am grateful for the memories I've made in college. Being a first-generation college student, I worked hard to make it to this point, to make my family proud. God blessed me with scholarships to graduate debt-free. Unfortunately, my last semester of living on campus was cut short and my commencement ceremony has been suspended due to COVID-19. I would’ve never expected things to end this way. Almost all students were sent back home after spring break. My daily life is completely disrupted. All of my classes are online, my study abroad trip to England this summer was canceled, concerts and my church services are held on Zoom, and many more things have been affected. I honestly miss my friends. Two of my friends got infected but they are better.
Francis (Kim Wah) Ng
More unfortunate news came when I found out one of my favorite professors who teaches a class I am currently taking, died from COVID-19. I had him for three different classes for two years and although his classes were difficult, everyone could see he cared about his students. He is the late Professor Francis Ng, a finance teacher. On the first day of class he would tell students Ng stands for “Nice-Guy.” One of his favorite things to say to students was “After you leave my class, I don’t want you all to be a Chihuahua. I want you to be a Pit Bull.” Basically, Chihuahuas are small dogs that have a lot of bark and no bite, but Pit Bulls are strong dogs and people know not to mess with them. The last thing I remember him telling me was “I want you to do well. You can do it. Stop overthinking so much.” Thank you, Professor Ng. This situation has taught me to not take for granted the people who are in front of me every day.
Being back at home, I’ve used my time to focus a lot more on music. Music is medicine. It has taken me through a lot of rough times in my life. My main instrument is guitar. I practice every day and I strive to create music that will heal others. People tell me all the time that when I play guitar it sounds so soothing.
Finally, I was asked to share my story in an article by NJ.com. I hope everyone continues to stay safe during this time. Tell someone that you love them if you haven't recently. Things are going to get better. Stay positive.