I teach English to immigrant adults at Portland Adult Education. As I headed to class yesterday amid the coronavirus pandemic, I thought about the resilience that my students demonstrate by overcoming many barriers to make their way in a new country.
I asked students to list their strategies for dealing with the stresses in their lives. Here are some of their responses:
• Pray.
• Walk by the ocean or some other beautiful place.
• Exercise.
• Play with children.
• Meditate.
• Watch movies.
• Notice children smiling and playing together.
One of my strategies for coping with this frightening crisis is to find small ways to help others. Recently, that has included writing to my elderly aunts and to friends who are already suffering life-threatening illnesses, trying to reassure my children, who both live in virus hot spots, and making opportunities to sing with others.
As we discussed in class, the very worst problem is feeling all alone. More than ever, this is the time to reach out to those in our community and face fear together.
Shoshana Hoose
Portland
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