The Lawn Mower

The first week of school has been quite a transition to each and everyone of us. We all learned how to use Zoom in lectures, how to communicate remotely, and how to utilize resources on campus while staying at home. As a student living in Isla Vista, besides focusing on schoolwork, I got the chance to observe and appreciate the most hardworking and dedicated people who are still at UCSB to support students during this pandemic, the UCSB staff.

I woke up earlier than usual on Tuesday as I heard one of the most familiar sounds in my last two years living in Santa Ynez, the sound of the lawn mower. It is scheduled that the staff mows the lawn in Santa Ynez apartments every Tuesday morning and the sound of the lawn mower has been, for many times, my weekly alarm that it is Tuesday and I need to wake up. Last Tuesday, I woke up with a surprise that the staff still mowed our lawn even though only less than one-fifth of the students are staying and this has been a dead empty place. It brought me to tears when I looked out of the window to witness the two staff working in the yard just like every other Tuesdays when the virus has not appeared. In the period of change where everything becomes so abnormal and atypical, the sound of the lawn mower was the only thing that is kept usual throughout my week and I realized how grateful I was when I heard the sound that used to be annoying to me sometimes. The cut down of UCSB services, housing, and classes this quarter also cut down my expectations of what was being offered on and off-campus for students. However, the lawn mower sound last Tuesday showed me that I am not alone in this community and UCSB is still doing its best to support every single of of us. I learned how to appreciate the little things that bring joy into this gloomy season, and they are all from the staff that are working so hard everyday at UCSB.

I am worried. I am lonely. I sometimes feel unsafe. But I also feel thankful and supported by all the staff here at Santa Ynez and at UCSB. The positive feelings they bring light up my days and outweigh all my little concern as an international student in the US during this strange time. This week for me is the week of appreciation, when I got the time to live a little slower, to think a little differently, and to love so much more.