Sunday, June 16, 2024
By:
A catchy song by 90’s punk band The Offspring or helpful advice when things happen that are out of our control? Resilience, noun; the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties.
Resilience is a quality I’ve put onto my resume for several years. Raised in low socioeconomic status, a first-generation high school graduate, college student, and U.S. Army veteran, I’m surely acquainted with Resilience. If Resilience was one of the personas in Pixar’s Inside Out, I think they would essentially be a free-floating body of semi-gelatinous water, but entirely contained within a boundary. Semi-gelatinous, because of a tougher consistency than water but still adaptable to its surroundings. And contained within a boundary, because of its ability to collect and maintain itself. I asked generative AI to produce an image of Resilience as a persona from Inside Out and it gave me the image attached.
Isn’t technology great? I’m not sure if my favorite part is the bags under her eyes, or the fact that she’s missing a foot. I think we can all agree though, she looks determined.
So where do we fit Resilience into our lives, both small and big? It fits into the mornings when you find unexpected mold on the bread you were going to have for breakfast. It fits into the tardy commuting rail, coupled with a road closure that makes you an hour late to work for the day. It fits into the fussy instrument you’re working with in the lab, or maybe into the lack of results that support your hypothesis. It fits into an uncertain situation that has direct effects on you. It fits into a late homework assignment, or a low grade on an exam you worked really hard for. It fits into the 12-hour plane delay. It fits into the sudden loss of a parent. Really, I guess, it fits into just about every time something happens that is out of our control.
What does Resilience look like? It looks like eating spaghetti for breakfast. It looks like healthy communication with a supervisor. It looks like patience and trying again. It looks like double-checking your math, experimental procedures, and data with an open mind. It looks like hoping for the best possible outcome and trying your best each day, even when the future feels uncertain. It looks like reviewing the things you didn’t understand and trying again because you have faith in your ability to do better. It looks like kindness towards others, despite things feeling chaotic. It looks like sharing a sense of humor with the absurd. It looks like strengthening the relationships with the people closest to you and revering the time you share with them.
It looks like trying again, and again.
I think I’ll keep Resilience on my resume. Thanks, Offspring.
Piper Malczewski