When moments of crisis arise, we’re often surprised by our own resilience. Facing challenges brings with it a sense of accomplishment, even exhilaration, in small doses. But when adversity and uncertainty drag on and on, even seeming to increase day by day, it can feel as if we have nothing left to give. Like Sisyphus in Greek mythology, it’s as if we’ve trudged up this hill before, only to find ourselves facing the same exhausting ascent once more.

In light of the strange times during which we close our fall semester, I would like to both reassure you and provide some advice:

Hawkeyes are tough, compassionate, and resourceful. The educational environment we are each a part of teaches us to look critically at surrounding events and respond to them thoughtfully and appropriately. As members of a liberal arts university community, our resources are both practical and philosophical. In times like these, both are essential.

And in order to not only endure but thrive, we must remember to care for ourselves. I mean this in terms of both physical and mental health. This is an opportunity to focus on how to be stable: how to eat properly, sleep properly, think rationally, be creative. A bright future is on the horizon, despite the difficulties and fears, and the distances we find between us. The thing to do now is prepare to meet that future as the best possible versions of ourselves.

Stay positive. If you’ve decided to take on a new hobby, don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t manage to practice it today. Just do your best to keep after it, and celebrate the successes as they come. Take small steps, and relish even the smallest achievements. If you miss a day of yoga or pushups, a brisk walk, your evening reading, or however you are keeping your body and mind in motion, that’s OK. You’ll get back on track tomorrow. And do get back on track tomorrow. Small steps, but keep moving.

If this advice seems too every day, too minor, I say on the contrary: What we accomplish at this university we owe as much to the fundamentals as to extraordinary feats, or efforts, or even luck. Perseverance is not trivial, and neither is remembering to be proportional and charitable with yourself.

We have an opportunity now to inspect our foundations, see where they might be lacking, and to shore them up. When it’s time to build higher, which it soon will be, our footings will be sound. As Hawkeyes, our eyes will once again be on the sky.

At the close of this semester, as some of you prepare for the spring’s studies and others begin a journey into what has become a very strange world indeed, know that you have what it takes. Stay strong and true, and you cannot fail. There’s a lot to look forward to, and soon.