I’ve thought a lot about resilience this past year. Applying to college and being thrown into quarantine immediately after cast a shadow over what was supposed to be the best year of high school. People say that college applications are a test of resilience, but as I trudged through them, I realized that they were really a microcosm of daily adversities and challenges. Resilience is not attributed to just large, defining events, but also in how we react to daily, more minute disruptions. I see resilience, or the opportunity to exert resilience, everywhere now. Platitudes of ‘success cannot exist without failure’ or ‘failure is not the opposite of success, but part of it’ are imbued with greater significance when we frame it in terms of resilience: the act of succeeding is defined by bouncing back after failure. Succeeding once and never recuperating from subsequent failures does not encompass success. Resilience is part of our day-to-day, but do we even realize it? I know I did not until this past year, especially in the latter half. I would love to hear your thoughts and to have a greater discussion about resilience!
– Bella Yang, Intern, Life Vest Inside