Like all of us, Adrian Suarez ‘22 has endured any number of challenges due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. As an international student from the Philippines, Suarez has faced ongoing uncertainty related to immigration policy while at the same time dealing with the emotional toll of being separated from family back home.
But Suarez says he’s committed to thinking beyond his experience alone, and has been working these past few months to support those in our community who may face even greater difficulties than he does. Earlier this year, he served as one of the organizers for “Lehigh Strong: A COVID Relief Variety Show,” which raised money for local non-profits, and Suarez says he continues to strive to put others first.
“There are a lot of people out there who are struggling with even the basic necessities of life,” he says. “To me, the challenge is to use my energy, my resources, my charisma, whatever I have to… move the spotlight to the nonprofits, to the families, to the artists, to those that are struggling more than me.… It just goes to my personal motto, which is to ‘serve with joy.’”
In the current context, Suarez says, that idea of service can extend all the way to simply following safety protocols. Because by doing so, we can all play a role in keeping vulnerable populations safe.
“I think we can reframe the situation and redefine why we're wearing masks, why we're social distancing, why we're making all these sacrifices,” he says. “If we can reflect and think about the minority groups who do not have access to adequate health care, or to the struggling healthcare workers who are at their wit's end at the hospitals, or our literal neighbors on the South Side, who are coming from low-income backgrounds and who may have been furloughed or lost their jobs… if we understand all these societal factors and understand that we are not living in a bubble, and that it is not just us who are struggling, then I think we'll have meaning in making these sacrifices.”