I always knew that 2020 would be a year of reflection for me. It is one of those anniversaries you can mark on your calendar decades in advance. Born in 1970 I have an easy way for people, including my children to keep track of how old I am, and so there was no avoiding 50 and really, why would I?
Counting in decades is not always a useful way of describing periods in one’s life. There are other markers along the path that may be more useful, such as graduation, the birth of children, new jobs etc. Still, I think 50 deserves special consideration, at the very least because unlike 40, most women I know are willing to acknowledge such a momentous occasion. Meeting Sara. It is when you stop hiding and say, yes, I am older than yesterday and yet here I am, with all that I am.
As 2020 started I was full of optimism. I planned several holidays, and booked them in the university system to be efficient. The first one, a trip down memory lane in London with my son to celebrate his propedeuse for English Teacher, in retrospect was rather ominously predictive. In the last week of February we smiled at some people in the street wearing masks, mostly Asian visitors, and had a lovely high tea in the British Museum, saw a most wonderful Royal Stuarts Exhibition and, of course, some pints in the pub. I think it might be several years before either of us returns to this town close to our hearts.
By the time my second holiday kicked in, to celebrate the 18th birthday of my Freedom girl early May, we were all at home already since mid March. Easter had seen us doing a family pub quiz. This time I had help from some of my innovative co-workers so friends and family could celebrate with us with a nice creative digital project with well wishes and pictures. We were making do. We were, against all hope, still expecting we’d be back to normal soon.
By the time summer came, and we escaped to a small castle tower in the Ardennes for a week, nobody in my family was under any illusion of normality returning and instead we found ourselves a hiding place. We enjoyed the sun, the Belgium beers and a lot, a LOT of card and table top games. Yet, we also knew that my work would extend the staying at home period till somewhere in 2021 and the kids too feared most of their learning would be online for the foreseeable future.
Now it is Autumn and my fourth break, originally to celebrate Leids Ontzet and my birthday, both of which are now virtual and but a pale imitation of what could be, with a grim lining because my household is in self isolation, for the 2nd time. Being in touch with many young people has its drawbacks too, bless ’em.
Yet, is it all doom and gloom? I must admit that my work has never been so exhilarating as this last year, with years of hard work, research and innovation coming to the rescue of my 445 year old Leiden University. We have explored online learning, platforms, trolling, data analytics, virtual meetings & seminars and more in the past 7 years and finally, the campus was ready for it. We have all worked ourselves to death, I’ve written my fingers blue, but it has been very, very satisfying to be of help and getting that work recognized by the university. I even got to attend the Opening of the Academic Year as a panelist as you can see from the glorious pictures on my site.
It helps, I think, if during a crisis you have something worthwhile to do, keeping people first in a digital age. Not to mention the fact that tech developments now allow for online communities to form at our university, opening whole new levels of digital transformation, efficiency and cohesion. We started the Sustainability Network. For somebody working as community manager that is exciting! People are connecting and even collaborating. It will bring us further.
It is a year full of new chances, already apparent or still to be sprung upon us. One upcoming chance at least is clear in my mind: the road back to hope in the USA, my original object of study. I foresee a few days off from work in November just to keep track of history there. I always keep in mind what prof Lammers told class “Always keep close attention on presidential election news, it will save you a lot of work when you have to catch up.” Indeed. The T. wil remain the T. but the end of this presidency can’t come soon enough.
Speaking of history, think of how we will look back on this year decades from now. In 2020 we will have survived a very memorable (if not perhaps wonderful) year that historians will write about for a long time and which you might tell your grandchildren about. I hope for future historians you have all kept diaries, logging your actions and most importantly, your thoughts. Donate them to museums and archives, to prosperity, to historians and your descendants. May the new decade be the dawn of new social movements, the end of neo liberalism and substantial action for climate change.
As I celebrate my last holiday of this year, three months from now, I hope you will raise your glass with me and say goodbye to 2020 with all its horrible lows and wonderful highs. Another decade. Another road full of discoveries.