With all the stories I had been listening to, I was proud to see that the mission of this project was so visible. As the person writing them, I even felt that sense of how unified we really are even when our experiences with this entire thing are completely different. It was no different when I sat down and tapped into a zoom call with Olalekan (Lake) George. Just like everyone else I had talked to prior to this, you could tell he was in a home setting, which can mean something different for everyone. Behind him I could see a lot of proud African heritage items. A tapestry with a black woman and a beautiful vase were the things that caught my attention. He didn’t hesitate to state how he really felt about everything going on, “The situation we are in is very scary and tragic, we’re just trying to stay calm as a unit.” He had a very serious look on his face when he spoke, I could tell he had been wanting to voice his frustrations.
In the days leading up to the complete closure of school, Lake had a very uneasy feeling about everything going on. He immediately recognized that he was being robbed of the experience that past seniors were able to participate in; with the focus obviously being graduation. I learned that graduation would be moved to December, and that even though there was an effort made to reschedule the event, it still takes away from the hard work that was put in to get too that point. “Some people like my best friend since I was a freshman will possibly not be able to attend,” He said pointedly. “People like that live out of state and are farther than just Illinois. It’ll actually wipe away some of the joy of getting my diploma.” A lot of people have traveled far and wide to attend Concordia, and for graduation they will, just like we were, be listening from behind a computer screen when their name is called. Lake won’t even be able to have a closing experience with one of the people he spent 4 years of his life with. “I’m still pretty happy though,” He said chuckling. “Just for the simple fact that now I don’t have to drive to school every day.” He was trying to make light of our dialogue even pointing out that because of this situation, he spends more time with his family than he has in a while. We had been talking for a while when he brought up his family. The upbeat, optimistic tempo of the interview quickly faded when I asked how his parents were taking this. Looking at Lake, you could tell he loves his parents dearly and it honestly crushed me as well to see the grim expression on his face. His mother runs her own hair salon, one that I had even went to and got my haircut from. It was promptly closed, and with the shop being one their main sources of income, they can already feel the effects of money not coming in. It pains him to see them struggling when everything was just fine a week ago, but he knows they’ll take it day by day and get through it as a “unit”. As of right now he is ahead on his rent payments for his apartment, but with the months bleeding into the next he knows that he it will catch up to him eventually. From just talking about the financial side of this fiasco he looked exhausted, and I could tell he wanted to be done. The last few weeks had been a blur and left him with more questions about his future than answers. “I just hope that everyone remains safe and follows instructions so we can go back to life as usual.”
We all hope that the curve flattens so we can return to our normal lives. Everyone is looking forward to something. Seniors nationwide were looking forward to taking the next step in their lives and diving into their new career. Families are now looking forward to being able to get their income back, because even though the money flow stopped, everything around us just keeps on marching ahead. We all feel different burdens together, it is up to all of us as citizens to keep pushing forward and fighting this beast together. I want to thank Lake for lending me his time to share his personal story with me, we are making a stamp on history with every story shared. This is an untraveled road and if we stay united, we will get through this without a scratch, let me know if you agree.