KIANA VALENCIANO
It is really such a crazy time in the world right now, and to be witnessing this crisis escalate has just been so overwhelming. Through all of this, I’ve been teaching myself to shift my attention towards only the things that are in my control: my actions and reactions. I keep sane by keeping in touch with my family and friends back home, by finding ways to fuel my creativity and by educating myself on issues that I resonate with. I guess I’ve been focusing most of my energy on reflecting and really trying to map out where and who I want to be after all of this.
I think the most valuable lesson I’ve learned from this experience is to have faith. It’s scary to think about everything that’s currently going wrong and everything else that could follow in the same light, but I refuse to let fear defeat me. With faith, I am not discouraged. So I’m trying to make the most out of this situation, hunting down every possible silver lining, because with so much free time, I don’t want to waste any of it.—KV
“TRY NOT TO GIVE IN TO THE HATE THAT’S STEMMING FROM FRUSTRATION AND FEAR. LET’S JUST DO OUR BEST TO CONTINUE SUPPORTING ONE ANOTHER THROUGH THIS CRISIS AND WE WILL COME OUT OF THIS STRONGER”