WAU Columbia Journal for January, 2021 - Student Publication

WASHINGTON ADVENTIST UNIVERSITY

Columbia Columbia Journal Journal

JANUARY 2021

CONT ENTS 03

VOL. 41 NO.1

06

The iconic phrase from the beloved children's 1991 film "The Tale of Peter Rabbit" perfectly encapsulates this semester's sentiments.

COVID CONTINUUM Attending University online was definitely not on our list of expected experiences for our college days, but here are some ideas to make the best of it.

~With Max Orlanne Pierre

09

WASHING TON Travel and tourism in DC are especially popular, but as busy schedules and social distancing are a normality in our lives, the Journal presents a view of the Capital, right from our pages. ~With Jenevieve Lettsome

20/20 VISION Join the Journal as God takes us on a journey, seeing the world through spiritual eyes.

~With Anna Karla CarreĂąo and Taylor M. Stokes

05

SO NEAR & YET SO FAR

~With Jenevieve Lettsome

10

CALENDAR Keeping up with the times is hard enough as it feels like both 100 years or only 3 seconds have passed us by since everything began.

From the Editor 2021 was good for 5 days before it just became 2020 with bangs. But in all seriousness, looking back on the past year and looking forward to this year, I'm sure we can all agree that despite still physically staying in the same place for the past year in quarantine, mentally, we are not. As a personal note, I know that I have learned to grow and mature into a better persona than I was when 2020 started. I have learned and witnessed what real hope, real faith, and real love means. And even though it's been a rough twelve months, I am still grateful despite it all and am ready for what this year will bring. As we progress throughout this new school semester, I pray and hope that each one of you, my dear readers, will find the faith and love and hope that insight and a new year will bring.

May we learn to find the happiness that hides behind the grey clouds in the small moments.

-Jenna

It's been nearly one year since WAU announced the campus would be going virtual, here's how to stay sane till we meet again

Anna Karla Carreño

The year 2020 was a chaotic journey, to say the least. From living through a deathly pandemic to natural disasters and unstable governments, 2020 was a wild ride.

With the new year, many of us have been thinking about resolutions and goals we want to achieve. Most of us are still in survival mode, so how do we get to a good place mentally, even when the world around us is falling apart?

Here are some tips for taking care of yourself while still stepping out of your comfort zone:

Establish a new routine. With everyone stuck at home constantly worrying about all things virtual, it’s easy to get stuck in front of your computer or on your phone for hours before realizing that you need a break.

Work on setting a routine for yourself that gives you time in between classes to step away from the electronic devices. Make it simple and easy to stick to- you can’t change your whole life in a day!

Work towards your goals in steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day- and establishing new habits won’t happen overnight either.

If you want to set a bigger goal to achieve throughout the year, set smaller benchmarks that work up to that big goal so that it doesn’t seem so daunting.

Make self-care a priority. Now more than ever, it’s important to take care of yourself. That doesn’t just mean spa daysit also means making sure your living space is clean, that you drink enough water and eat enough food.

Sometimes self-care is mindful thinking and journaling, and other times it’s taking a shower and changing into new clothes.

Ask for help. It’s okay to get help- WAU even has an online resource called Telehealth, where you can access licensed therapists and psychiatrists 24/7 in case you need someone to talk to.

MUUNITNOC DIVOC • 3 EGAP

MENTAL HEALTH IN A PANDEMIC

Taylor M. Stokes.

With the start of a new year comes resolutions. One of the most important and life-saving resolutions that can be made is to stop yourself and others from drunk driving. MADD (2020) reports that adults drink too much and drive about 121 million times per year – or more than 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving a day.

With the ongoing pandemic, people may choose to host small gatherings to maintain community during such unprecedented times. Here are a few tips and guidelines for preventing drunk and drugged driving.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 2018, reports nationally that there were 108 deaths in a two-day period due to drunk driving in December [DNIDPM]. This is an alarming number, and it is something that can be prevented with proper planning, and responsibility.

Some hosts may choose to provide mocktails for their guests, or the designated driver for the night. Mocktails are a nonalcoholic form of beverage given to designated drivers so that they can remain sober without feeling like an outcast during social events. Designated drivers can still enjoy their time at social gatherings while being socially responsible.

Hosts who practice social responsibility will collect car/motorcycle keys and will instruct drivers that keys will not be returned if the guest does not pass the sobriety test.

The driver will be offered a few choices: Uber/Lyft, or taxi, and return the following day to reclaim their vehicle, or agree to accept the host’s accommodations to remain over until sobriety can be realized.

This year, despite the ongoing pandemic, social gatherings will occur. Those hosting parties or attending social outings must be vigilant and considerate of friends and family members this year by abiding by local pandemic regulations and drunk driving concerns.

Remember, the goal is social responsibility.

Keep your guests, and others in the public safe from drunk drivers. These tools and resolutions can be further maintained during the year.

From Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday to Saint Patrick’s Day to Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and even next Christmas. These tools can be put in place to continue to complete your resolution and to maintain safety throughout the year.

Sources cited on page 9

MUUNITNOC DIVOC • 4 EGAP

LET'S MAKE THIS YEAR DIFFERENT

NOTGNIHSAW .5 EGAP

SPOT NO.5 The MLK Monument Viewed by many as the "Black Founding Father" of America, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was memorialized 48 years after his speech during the March on Washington. The civil right's leader's image was designed

by Lei Yin and opened in October of 2011. This large work of granite sits at the start of the Cherry Blossom Walk on the Northwest corner of the Tidal Basin.

Taking inspiration from his speech, the large piece of granite was originally a boulder known as the "Stone of Hope" from a mountain, which echoed the man's words, “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope,�

It is these words, that ware carved into the visible back portion of the monument. https://worldstrides.com/blog/2016/01/interesting-factsabout-the-martin-luther-king-jr-memorial/

Max Orlanne Pierre

"Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy; now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice; now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood; now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children."

-From Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s speech from the March on Washington

Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia, to Martin Luther King Sr., a pastor, and Alberta Williams King, a former schoolteacher. King spent his childhood observing his family legacy as his paternal lineage worked as pastors.

He attended segregated public schools in Georgia and graduated from high school at 15. In 1948, King received his B.A degree from Morehouse College where both his father and grandfather had graduated.

By 1954, King had followed in his family’s legacy and became a pastor while also living as a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

King was a strong and exceptional worker for the civil rights of Black people and by 1955, he was entrusted with leading the first monumental, nonviolent demonstration against segregation, the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-56. The boycott lasted 381 days and, following a ruling by the Supreme Court, segregation on public buses was deemed unconstitutional.

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REMEMBERING A GIANT

During the boycott, King endured opposition and personal abuse but also emerged as a prominent leader.In addition to all of King’s accomplishments and unwavering spirit, he is very well known for his “I Have a Dream” speech. In August of 1963, during the March on Washington, where some 250,000 people had gathered in front of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech. King’s speech called for peace and equality among people and outlined a basis for King’s vision of the future. He said: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.... With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

This speech rooted King’s reputation and in 1964, helped him become the youngest person to ever be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.King, among many others, fought tirelessly for the civil rights of Black people and equality between all people. Despite his untimely death only 4 years later, King’s legacy has lived on and his spirit flows through us all today. His actions and his mark on history remind us of our heritage and the thanks we owe to our ancestors.

Sources cited on page 9

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REMEMBERING..... CONT.

We have experienced a year unlike any other in our lifetimes, which, at first a decade ago would have been hard to believe. It has been near hell on earth, and after experiencing life in quarantine, the job market, disasterous fires, bombings and explosions, murder hornets, toilet paper outages, the devastating loss of Black excellence such as our king T’Challa and the Black Mamba, and the Summer that was the 2020 Civil rights movement, and 2020 Election "week", to name a few, I think it’s fair to say, we are survivors at the very least, like our ancestors before us. We have taken each day as it came, praying and living as best we could. And to that, I say it is a miracle. Now, we are all looking towards a new year, ready for whatever comes next. But allow me, someone who has barely lived, and yet feels like they’ve already lived a thousand years leave you with the bit of advice I’ve learned through trial and error: Go with God. Ephesians 4:22-24 says: You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

2020 was certainly not the year we’d hoped it to be, and in all reality, 2021 had all of five days before it presented itself with its own set of problems. But just as we have lived through 2020, we must take this new year and it’s symbol of a new start to rededicate our lives to God, to give him permission to take our lives and fill it with his mercy, blessings, and goodness; strengthening our lives so that we may thrive and rise every day to meet our goals.

In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

New beginnings mean nothing, if you don’t start with God.

NOISIV 02/02 . 8 EGAP

20/20 VISION With Jenevieve Lettsome

Sources cited for Pages 4 and 6 https://www.madd.org/december-isnational-impaired-driving-prevention-month/ Uber and stakeholders: Managing a new way of riding. Harvard Business School. https://www.madd.org/ https://www.naacp.org/i-have-a-dreamspeech-full-march-on-washington

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The Columbia Journal of Washington Adventist University is the official print media news source for the University’s on-campus student body.

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RADNELAC . 9 EGAP

JANUARY

~Contributors~ "Jenna" Jenevieve Lettsome......Editor Max Orlanne Pierre......Interning Columnist Anna Karla CarreĂąo..........Copy Editor Dr. Jarilyn Conner........Faculty Advisor Dr. Thomas Lutrell....Advisory Council

wauh onor scoll ege The Mission of the Student Association is to establish a culture of engagement and unity on the campus of Washington Adventist University.