Artist: Leila Zadeh, employee
A.T. Still University University, ASDOH
I wrote the following poem to highlight our collective human experience as we were learning to process and navigate the unchartered experiences of a pandemic. I uploaded this as a pdf because the formatting of this poem is purposeful. The narrowing and widening of the stanzas reflects both the emotional and sociopolitical rollercoasters of the past year and a half, so the visual arrangement of the lines is intentional. I did submit this poem to the JADA (Journal of the American Dental Associations)'s COVID19 monograph, and it was chosen to be published on their website. I have been encouraged by those who have read it to submit this poem because it shines a light on the mutual anxiety felt on a global scale, but its key theme is the fact that despite all of this, we are empowered to use our voices and our actions to help others and remain hopeful despite the adversity. And I believe this outlook on life is beautifully in sync with ATSU's philosophies of being a beacon of hope and healing in our society and community.