Well, here we are, nearing the end of a rather interesting semester, as we have had to transition to a new lifestyle due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Non-essential businesses, including banks, restaurants, and movie theaters, are still closed and offering alternatives as to how they can still provide their services. NY Governor, Andrew Cuomo has announced that schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year, including our campus of SUNY Old Westbury. Sports seasons such as the NBA, MLB, NHL, and even the summer Olympics remain canceled.

However, despite being drowned in so much into the chaos recently, there is still light at the end of this tunnel, as the United States has recently surpassed a number of one million recoveries from the coronavirus, showing that, even though this pandemic is very scary, it doesn’t mean that everyone who comes down with the virus will end up dying.

Even those who have been labeled as high-risk to COVID-19 have managed to survive. For instance, two different people who lived through the Spanish flu pandemic a century ago, both people who are over 100 years old, ended up surviving the coronavirus. These people, in my opinion, are just two examples of why people should remain optimistic, even in times like this. To me, these two high-risk coronavirus patients managing to survive the deadly virus show that, no matter how bleak things seem, we can still find a way to pull through in the end, as, if those who are considered high-risk can find a way to live another day, so can anybody.

Additionally, another sign of optimism for us, especially those who live here in New York, is that the rate of hospitalizations as a result of COVID-19 have decreased, leading the governor to state in an update that New York may indeed be past the peak when it comes to the coronavirus. And, while he stressed that social distancing must continue in order for the coronavirus to be truly defeated, as well as extending the stay-at-home order in New York another few weeks to early June. Cuomo did express hopes that the state of New York would soon be able to push past the turmoil and tragedy caused by the start of the pandemic.

So, even though the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be a huge roadblock to getting back to what we consider a “normal” life, the signs of optimism around us give us hope for the future, and prove that, even when we have our backs against the wall, we can always find a way to overcome adversity, because, after all, nothing has proven to be too strong for us Americans to push past, as some of the examples above show.