Coach Cori Close: Spring quarter marked by changes, emotions and new challenges
Coach Cori Close locks arms with UCLA women’s basketball players and staff during the 2019-2020 season, which was eventually cut short because of the coronavirus. (Joy Hong/Daily Bruin senior staff)
By Cori Close
June 10, 2020 6:41 p.m.
The end of spring quarter always brings a multitude of emotions to campus – excitement for what lies ahead, anticipation for the adventures that await, pride on what was accomplished this year, reflection on what we are hoping to accomplish in the future and some sadness to see another academic year end, and with it, the inevitable passage of time. These feelings are especially profound for the graduating class of 2020, and as uncertain as the past couple of months have been, the emotions of a typical spring quarter are still the same. We have collectively made it through a spring like no other – one that saw the campus emptied like Rieber Hall during a fire drill but with little or no time to say goodbye to the people, places and experiences that are so much a part of our Bruin lives.
For athletes, the abrupt end to their seasons brought an immeasurable amount of grief and a sense of loss that is hard to put into words, even months later. For performers who worked all year for recitals, plays, et cetera, the loss was no less profound. For those who lost someone to COVID-19, the pain lingers along with a sense that as the rest of us look forward to getting back to a new normal, your life may never feel normal again. Loss took different forms for all of us, and we all felt it in some form.
And yet, as I think about what makes UCLA great, I’m reminded that we’ve gained a lot as well. We have done what Bruins always do – improvise, adapt and overcome. We’ve figured out ways to stay in touch, to learn remotely, to better articulate how we are feeling and to define what is important to us and why. We’ve become closer and more bonded together even as we shelter in place and remain away from campus and each other. In the end, we will not be defined by the pandemic but refined by our response to it. We will meet the obligation to take responsibility for our education with the strength, ingenuity and fearlessness it demands. We remain strong. Steadfast. Resilient. Bruins.
