Title
The Lucky Ones
Description
The essay discusses the death of my grandmother in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although not a direct victim of the virus, her death mirrored the experiences of those killed by it. The essay also addresses how mourning and death is dealt with in a pandemic. It should take around 10 to 15 minutes to read the piece.
Biography
Jack Huber is from Albany, New York. A junior studying Biology and Creative Writing, he hopes to merge these passions in a future career. He works as a Professorial Assistant in Dr. Root-Bernstein’s lab studying the molecular origins of life. As a distance runner on Michigan State’s cross country and track teams, Jack goes through Nikes almost as quickly as he goes through books.
Content Warnings
Although implied by the subject matter of the essay, there could be some content warnings. The essay contains several descriptions of death and dying, as well as some descriptions in a hospital setting where patients are suffering.
Reflection:
When I applied for the Microgrant, I had no expectations of receiving it. I’m a relatively new writer, only picking up the craft my freshman year of high school. But I had a story to tell and it felt good to know that others thought my story and perspective was worth telling. The requirements to write are very low compared to most of the other projects chosen. I spent some of the money on books that I read about topics peripheral to my essay, just to put my mind in the right space. I’ve found that as a writer, nothing helps drive my creativity like reading. I also spent some of the money on an online subscription to The Atlantic magazine which is my favorite resource for COVID-19 reporting. Some specific details from the essay are pulled from stories I read in The Atlantic about the chaos in hospitals at the height of the pandemic. For the most part, the $500 grant served as income as I wrote the essay. I also couldn’t work in the lab this summer so having some extra money helped a lot.
Most of my research for this essay was just talking to people. Lots of long phone calls. I gained an appreciation for all the things that people hold within themselves but never share. How many people lost someone during COVID-19 but never had a chance to share their story in a formal way?
Editing was a large focus of mine these past few weeks. This is the first essay of mine that’ll be presented to an audience so I’ve put a lot of effort into making it as polished as possible. I made sure to get a lot of eyes on it before I send it in. My dad used to work in the newsroom and has a few friends that read over my piece and gave me suggestions.
I think a lot of students lean away from the arts as they go through college, focusing on their time-intensive STEM major instead. Financial support can help encourage those students to embrace their artistic side and incentivize them to maybe study less calculus and write more poetry. Personally, I hate the idea of being stuck in one thing. I love having a STEM major while also working on creative writing and I think more students would benefit from diversifying their classes in college. Everyone I’ve met in college has been a talented artist in some way or another. A teammate of mine won awards in high school for ceramics but hasn’t taken a single art class in college. Maybe more of these microgrants would encourage students to step outside of their major to work on something creative.