Penn Pandemic Diary Penn Pandemic Diary, Entry #42: History Repeated

Rachel Lambert is a Junior at the University of Pennsylvania majoring in International Relations. She was a summer intern at Perry World House in summer 2020.

I am back in my childhood bed, house and hometown of Washington DC. By no choice of my own, I’m right back where I was four years ago. Surrounded by so much familiarity, it’s impossible not to feel I’ve regressed.

Four years ago, when I signed up for my first International Relations course, I was inspired by the 2016 election. Studying IR wasn’t something I expected: I was convinced that I wanted to be a doctor; but the election inspired a passion for International Relations that threatened to throw a wrench in that career plan. I became determined to find a way to marry the two careers and figure out how to make a difference.

Going into downtown DC after the election and inauguration, the environment was electric.  People were mobilizing and protesting, a movement seemed to be growing. Every weekend, hundreds of thousands marched down the Mall – for Women, for Science, for Climate.  It felt like we’d make history. Some voiced concerns that the outrage would subside, and protests would stop. Maybe I was overly optimistic, but I genuinely believed it wouldn’t. The passions all seemed too big to just fade away. I became convinced I could marry a passion for public policy with a desire to study medicine – Médecins Sans Frontières became my goal.

However, the seemingly unstoppable public passions did, in fact, fade. The protests began to ebb.  Where there had once been rallies and marches every weekend, now people gradually seemed content to return to “normal” life. The call for reforms increasingly fell on deaf ears as the masses subsided. 

I was doubted what I had experienced. Over the next three years, I became less sure of my goals. I started blocking out the “bad,” consciously ignoring the news and disassociating from politics. As I withdrew from interest in policy. I was lost and kept myself in a blissful bubble of ignorance. As I became less informed, I found myself looking at my future with less clarity or direction.

Then the pandemic and the BLM protests hit.  People began to pay attention again. The pandemic is affecting every aspect of American life, and horrible as it is, seems to be also a much-needed wakeup call. The George Floyd murder has added fuel to this fire, as the backlash to Floyd’s killing exploded online, in the streets, and around the world. People are tuning in again and recoiling in horror at the things that are being done and said in government. I am no exception.

I still fear that, as quarantine has continued, protests to achieve social progress are again fading from the public consciousness. As I watched, I was reminded of four years ago and how America appears to be following the same pattern. It at first seems that the American public is so desperate for quarantine to end that we have all made the conscious choice to ignore it. The belief is that if we willingly ignore everything around us, succumbing to public fatigue, suddenly everything will return to “normal.”

As I worry social and political progress may stall, the pandemic continues on relentlessly. While many nations have already made it through the first phase of virus response, or at the very least continued to reduce cases, the United States is again setting records for infection. The brunt of the pandemic paired with an election year may be enough for people to pay attention to necessary reforms. Institutional problems are being highlighted and issues such as health care are getting renewed attention.

However, sitting in my childhood home, I also see hope. I’ve rediscovered and seen the importance of the work that I want to do in the future: I want to become a doctor where I know I  can make a tangible impact on people’s lives. The pandemic allowed me to take the time I needed to reset and pursue my plans with renewed vigor. No longer do people seem content to just wait things out -- although the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the nation, it may also be the push we need to implement true reform so that when the time comes to reopen the nation that emerges can be better.

The views expressed in the Penn Pandemic Diary are solely the author’s and not those of Penn or Perry World House.