Due totheWisconsin Supreme Courtsdecision to eliminateGov. Tony Evers Safer at Home Order, Wisconsin city businesses have begun to reopen and their hours have extended, including in the La Crosse area. In La Crosse an increasing amount of restaurantsareopen withnormal hours with increasingseatingcapacity, businesses are reinstating walk-insin exchange for curbside pickup,and inhabitants have re-entered Riverside Park.

The COVID-19 pandemic hasbrought about positives to some that otherwise might not have been apparent. The Racquet Press reached out tothree students and three faculty members from the University of Wisconsin-La Crossetodiscuss their perceivedsilver linings.

AbigailBingenheimer, sophomore

For UWL sophomore AbigailBingenheimer, she said social distancinghas meantpersonal growthand realizations.Ive learned a lot about myself throughout this whole quarantine,said Bingenheimer. Who my real friends are, who I want to be friends with and the kind of friend I want to be.

Bingenheimer notes that quarantine, and how people respond to it, reveals a lot. I realize I am totally fine by myself. And I dont need to have a big circle of friends. I just need my core group of people who I love, and thats it. Be kind to everyone, be civil, be an adult to everyone, but you really only ever need that core group of people.

Bingenheimer works at Kwik Trip in her hometown of Waukesha, Wisconsin. She said her job has caused her to appreciate the little things. Ive had more wholesome experiences and interactions at work during Corona [COVID-19] than I had before.

Bingenheimer said she has noticed how important kindness can beduring hard times.Ive started to appreciate people doing the little, kind thingsjust giving a smile, or saying hello, or having a two-second conversation with someone while theyre buying gas.

Though quarantine has changed a lot for Bingenheimer, as she was living in Hutchison Hall at UWL and had to moveback home,she said she recognizes her privilege.I acknowledge that I have it really well, I do, and I understand that a lot of people dont.

Bingenheimer said she tries to remember the golden rule: treat others as you would like to be treated. Takea little bit of extra time to do just a small act of kindness for another person.

Jordan Wallner, sophomore

UWL sophomore Jordan Wallner is from Waunakee, Wisconsin,andlived in Hutchison Hall at UWL.For Wallner, she said transitioning home and into online classes was difficult. It completely changed my life. I felt trapped.

Wallners mother isimmune-compromised, so she said her family enforcedsocial distancing. It was hard to keep living here when I was constantly doing somethingwrong,doing something they didnt approve of. She said her parents had also asked her to hand over her car keys. All I could do to leave the house wasrunningor grocery shopping, she said.

Despitequarantine andbeing unable toworkdue to her diner job beingshut down,Wallner found ways tofocus on positives.I met up withfriends outside, and wedplaysoccer in a fielddown the street from my house.

Wallner said she found herself clashing with her parents a lot,butshe thinks they grew closer. Weended up having a lot of good discussions,seeing and understanding each others points, although it wasnt always pretty. But we did get totalk, and I spentmore time with them too.

Wallner said sherenewed old hobbies during quarantine.I did a lot of painting and other artwork.She said she found herself journaling, as well.

I just decided to writethingsdown,and it helped me figure out how Im feeling and how to go about it.At the end of the day I put in my journal how I would rate my day out often, and it helped me think about what I could do to be betterand feel better the next day, Wallner said. Without the Coronavirus rainclouds, I couldnt see my own silver lining.

Veronica Sannes, junior

Veronica Sannes lived in Eagle Hall at UWL during the 2020-2021 school year and is from Saint Paul, Minnesota. ForSannes,the biggest impact of the COVID-19 pandemic wasthe cancellation of her summer job.

Sanneshad an internship planned with the Minnesota state government, which would have given her valuable field experience. Sannes is now working in a warehouse over the summer.

Despite these changes, Sannes says she is staying positive. I get to listen to as muchmusicand as many audiobooks as I wantwhile Im working, which I wouldnt get to do otherwise.

Sannes said her mother has a history of health issues, so her family is taking social distancing seriously. She has stayed busy going for hikes, playing frisbee golf, and picking up baking.

Sannes visited La Crosse to see hernew apartment recently. The differences between La Crosse and the Twin Cities are astounding. People here [Saint Paul] have been a lot stricter about not going out unless you absolutely have to.

However she said recently, that has changed. In the past two weeks, the attitude towards Coronavirus has changed dramatically because of the [Black Lives Matter] protestsyou can sense a big shift in the Twin Cities. Its not so much about COVID-19, its about making change.

Sannes said she recognizes her privilege in her experience with COVID-19. I am really lucky that the biggest impact on me was that my summer job got canceled, rather than way bigger issues.

Sannesemphasizeshow strange it was to have her sophomore year cutshort and be separated from college friends.I feel like we were just getting into the groove of things, the second semester was going so well.

Sannes said that its odd to be separatedfrom friends you dont know as wellthe peopleyoudont talk to regularly,andwouldntnecessarily reach out tobut still appreciate and have fun with.Ireallymiss seeing those half-friends, people from classes and campus [organizations].

Sannes said she is a very social person, so moving back home was a culture shock for her. It sucked at first, but now Ive learned how to spend quality time with myselfand realized how important it is to recharge.

She said that she hopes to maintain these habits after things return to normal. I think that thats something Ill take forward. While it may be fun to hang out with people 24/7, its probably not thehealthiestthing you can do.

Sannes said she is grateful. I appreciate my privilege in beingable to bealone in a good way.

Bradley Butterfield, UWL faculty

Bradley Butterfield is a professor in the English department at UWL and holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Oregon. For him, he said its all about turning negativity into positivity. It [COVID-19] really made me go back to the stoics [philosophers], and think about how to live simply, how to be happy regardless of what the outside world looks like and how to be happy with our inside world.

Butterfield is a self-described introvert and notes the upsides of social distancing.So much of the redundancy andsuperfluousnessof all that we do on a regular basis was cut out and distilled to the essentials.

He said he has found himself practicing introspection during social distancing. On a personal level, Ive found it an inspiring time. Ive got more reading done, more thinking, taken great walks. I say that while counting my privileges, of course, and realizing that those of us who have resources and employment and a place to be are incredibly lucky.

Butterfield has also found himself reflecting on how COVID-19 relates to the bigger picture. He references the economic crisis that will likely follow in the wake of the COVID-19, the recent momentum in the Black Lives Matter movement, and climate change. Its like the Spanish Flu, The Great Depression, and the civil unrest of the 1960s happening all over againat once.

Butterfield said he looks to the calamities were facing as an opportunity for growth. We cant avoid the negative. Weve got to look it in the face and say, alright, how can we positively respond to that negativity?

He points to the Black Lives Matter movement as an example. The visceral reaction to seeing George Floyd executed, lying down on the street, grabbed our attention. That was something extremely negative, but it had a positive reaction. People decided they were going to go out, and protest, and demand positive change.

Butterfield said he is optimistic that the Black Lives Matter movement will only be the beginning. My hope is that the silver lining [of COVID-19] will be people waking up. People will wake up and realize, hey, we can do this.

Butterfield said he is a strong proponent of sustainability and environmental reform. Weve got to have the whole species start to think planetarily and stop consuming so much so often. The Coronavirus did that, it showed us that we can get by with less. We can live more modestly and learn to sustain our resources better.

Butterfield said he maintains an attitude of optimism. Everything we have is only on loan to us, and everything can be taken at any time. Our only job is to not react in a negative way.

Judi Becker, UWL faculty

Judi Becker has taught English and education classes at Winona State University, where she is currently a writer for Marketing and Communication and will return to teach full-time at UWL this fall.

Becker has said she has been confined to her apartment since the start of the pandemic. COVID has completely isolated me to my apartment building due to underlying medical conditions.

Becker is known for bringing home-baked goods in for students during finals week and she describes herself as a people-person. Im very much a comforter, Im very much a nurturer, Im very much a let me help you with that kind of person.

When Becker had to begin social distancing, she said it was a big change. With every single decision I make about encouraging or providing for someone, I have to measure the need against my own wellbeing since I carry such severe risk.

In addition to these difficulties, Becker has also had to come to terms with the cancelation of upcoming fall semester plans. Becker was going to teach English at a school on Jeju Island in South Korea, where she would also live in the dorms and mentor students. Becker said teaching overseas has been a lifelong dream and bucket list item for her. I was really excited about thatmaybe one day, she said.

Becker said that the worst of all is having to distance herself from her two adult children. One lives close to her, and Becker said she is still able to see them. They come to my back porch probably once every other week, or I drive to their house and they talk to me from the passenger side window, so weve been able to visit those ways, so thats been good.

She said seeing her daughter has been more difficult, as she lives far away and herfianc works in a hospital, increasing the danger. How do I not hug my kid and take that chance? Its hard and its scary.

Becker said she cannot afford the risk. Its frightening for me. I look at whats happening to other people who have my same conditions. Theyre dying.

Becker said she looksat things with hope. Im learning more about what I need to take care of myself. Im listening to a lot more music than I would normally be able to take the time to do. And Ive done some journaling. Normally, Im working, working, working.

Though she admits occasional frustration, Becker said she looks at the situation with as much understanding as she can. Im not sure if theres a right or wrong [way] to navigate through this. I think each person is doing the best they can with what they know and how they feel.

Instead of teaching in South Korea, Becker will be teaching at UWL in the fall. I plan to pour myself into classes in the fall with even more life experience, and Im looking forward to some deep, engaging conversations in those classes. What were going through right now is traumatizing, and its a shared trauma. I think that after this were all going to be like military buddies who had each others backs in the trenches. This whole generation of people, both older and younger, will have a bond.

Becker said she regrets this temporary inability to be close to her loved ones, but she also recognizes that the pandemic has reframed how people connect. I think and hope that we, as a society, have re-discovered the preciousness of people. Personally, Ive reached out more to my core people to express my gratitude and appreciation for themonline, of course.

Nothing will ever be the same again. Our normal is goneits been ripped from us. And thats violating, said Becker. But pain is defined by resilience. And resilience is about getting back up again, and moving forward into that new reality, that new normal.

Shilpa Viswanath, UWL faculty

Professor Shilpa Viswanath holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Rutgers University in New Jersey and is an Assistant Professor in the Political Science and Public Administration department at UWL.

A relatively new hire to UWL, and one of few women of color in the UWLfaculty, Viswanath strives to draw attention to an issue that most are not considering about COVID-19: gender inequality.

Viswanath said, The most striking example of gender inequality is the lack of representation of women in COVID-19 task forces at the federal, state, and local levels of government. In particular, the [lack of] African-American and Hispanic women in decision making spheres. These communities [African-American and Hispanic] have been hit hardest. Without their perspectives and their inputs on public policy design, how will we ever overcome structural inequities?

Of the 27 officials on the federal COVID-19 task force, two are women, and one is a person of color.

We have empirical evidence from past epidemics, such as the Ebola outbreak and the Zika virus outbreak, pointing to exaggerated gender disparities during a public health emergency. These past lessons should serve as important reminders to prioritize womens needs while implementing pandemic responses, Viswanath said.

Viswanath said that the pandemic could likely upset what progress we have made towards gender equality. Consistently, across the board (irrespective of socio-economic class and educational qualifications), working women are still likely to provide all forms of informal care for their families at home, thereby disrupting their performance at work. It has taken women a long time to achieve the labor force participation rates we see today and this pandemic and the lack of access to universal childcare could set women back in time.

Viswanath said that recent adaptations in telecommuting, as a result of COVID-19, is proof that there are ways in which women can do both, rather than being discriminated against. I hope going forward, both public sector and private sector organizations will invest more in work-life programs that enable women to continue pursuing economic opportunities while caring for their families. We have seen a shift in efficient telecommuting and remote working arrangements since March 2020. This is something organizations should sustain and pursue in the long run.

Viswanath will be teaching POL 102, 205, and PUB 210 and 330 this upcoming fall semester and plans to use her recent research in class.

Gender inequities are systemic, structural, and institutional. Pandemics have a differential impact on men and women mostly because of the already existing gendered norms and power structures within families and within organizations. Womens voices and perspectives have to be included in the public policy design at all times, said Viswanath.

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UWL students and faculty discuss silver linings and reflect on COVID-19 - The Racquet