Keeping Our Community Even When We’re Apart

“Let this time show you how interconnected the world is” —Wynton Marsalis

Well, Juilliard, here we are. We’re in the last quarter of the school year. The home stretch. Seniors are supposed to be ordering caps and gowns, recitals are supposed to be happening left and right, and Central Park picnics with friends should be in full swing as the weather gets warmer. Instead, I’m writing this article on my couch in St. Louis, and I haven’t left my family’s house in days. I’m getting ready for my classes on Zoom tomorrow, which are the only time I see many of my friends and are one of the remaining shreds of normalcy left in my life, as I’m sure they are for many of you. Who would’ve thought a month ago that we’d be in this position? Even a few weeks ago I wasn’t expecting this. But here we are, and here we’ll remain for the foreseeable future.

Though our classes are on Zoom, our lessons are on FaceTime, and we’re spread across the globe, we still have each other

It’s easy for this to feel like a prison sentence. Within a matter of hours, many of us had to leave the places we lived and sent across the world on a trip that we hadn’t planned, all while we watched every single one of our plans for the next three months get cancelled. Now we aren’t supposed to leave our houses, and if we do have to venture out to get some groceries or medicine, we put our lives and the lives of those we love at risk. So what do we do? Where do we go from here? Perhaps you’ve picked up a new hobby or started a new show on Netflix. Maybe you’ve started that book that’s been on your shelf all year. I, for one, have been trying to use this time for some reflection on our world and the role that we play in it. And, just like all of us, I’ve been trying to use this abundance of free time to practice many of the things that I found that I didn’t have time to practice during the normal school year.

In a recent letter to the Juilliard Jazz community, Wynton Marsalis wrote, “Let this time show you how interconnected the world is and how we need deeper connection with others because we are connected.” Thus far, this period of isolation has shown me just how large a part the Juilliard community plays in my life. Sure, we might grumble on our way to that 9am class. Those long days of classes, lessons, rehearsals, and work-study jobs can really take it out of us. But now more than ever do I wish that I could wake up on the top bunk in my dorm, take the elevators down from the 27th floor of the residence hall, and walk across the Rose Walk and through those revolving doors. The sense of community that Juilliard so carefully nurtures has never meant more to me than when it was so abruptly yanked away. But just because we aren’t going to be in the Irene Diamond building until September doesn’t mean that our community has ceased to exist. Though our classes are on Zoom, our lessons are on FaceTime, and we’re all spread thousands of miles apart across the globe, we still have each other. So reach out to a friend this week. Collaborate with a classmate on a composition. Shoot an email to that professor you really liked last semester. We’re all going on this journey together, and though it has the potential to be a boring, sad time, it also has the potential to be a time of extraordinary growth. And, when we all finally find ourselves back at 65th and Broadway again, it’s going to be oh so sweet. Hang in there, Juilliard. We’ll weather this storm and come out stronger on the other side, together.

Third-year jazz trombonist Jacob Melsha holds Thomas K. Pinto as well as Lester R. and Doris S. Benjamin scholarships