#Middlebury
By BRIDGET HENRY
In a recent discussion with a friend (at a physically appropriate distance, of course), I referred to the year 2020 as “the year with an asterisk.” My friend and I had been speaking specifically about education and about how test scores and grade point averages from this academic year will be figuratively (if not literally) marked with an asterisk.
It was my opinion that this year’s As and Bs, no matter how they are calculated, would always be looked at in a very different light. After all, these are the As and B’s from a school year without classrooms and cafeterias, without proms and graduations, without sports and musicals. These grades should carry an asterisk, right?
Of course GPAs and class rankings aren’t the only facts and figures that could be marked with an asterisk when all is said and done. Oil prices, sports statistics, rates of pollution, incidents of domestic violence, unemployment and the state of mental illness (to name just a few) have all seen the impacts of life in a world with the coronavirus.
Some of these pieces of data have seen unique positive changes. Carbon emissions have dramatically decreased, and in some respects air quality has never been better. On the other hand, domestic violence incidents are on the rise and unemployment has never been worse. Each and every one of these pieces of data reflects, in its own way, the unique circumstances of 2020. Should they too come with an asterisk?
The Merriam Webster dictionary says an asterisk, *, “is a character thought of as being appended to something (such as an athletic accomplishment in a record book) typically in order to indicate that there is a limiting fact or consideration which makes that thing less important or impressive than it would otherwise be.”
Wait a minute. Perhaps I need to rethink this “year with an asterisk” thing. Less important? Less impressive? Though 2020 is, without a doubt, a very different year, there is no way that what we accomplish this year will be any less impressive or less important than in years past. In fact, I argue, that what each and every one of us accomplishes through these trying times will be more impressive, more important.
This year will come with career changes, financial hardships, missed opportunities, and unexpected adversity. Our lives likely will be changed forever. And no asterisk can ever show the perseverance, the hope, the small victories, the helping hands, the friendships, the family time, the new memories, the perspectives gained or the lessons learned.
Less impressive? Less important? No way. Maybe 2020 should not be marked with an asterisk after all. Perhaps instead it should come with an exclamation point.
No matter what 2020 brings, let’s not allow any asterisk to define us, especially when the definition of an asterisk says nothing at all about us. Again, stay well. Ask for help. And make any and every asterisk count. As always I am happy to be Somewhere in the Middle (of 2020!) with all of you.
