Overcome

It is easier said than done to overcome. The Wright State and Dayton communities experienced a momentous amount of pain, suffering, loss and yearning for a different reality in the past couple of years. Instead of focusing on what caused the pain and the circumstances we desire to change. I am determined to focus on the ways our communities stood back up, how we recovered, how we overcame.

In the past few years, Dayton rebuilt after devastating tornados. Dayton grieved and still grieves the losses from a deadly shooting in the Oregon District.

Wright State survived one of the longest faculty strikes in history. A strike with lasting impacts. A strike that although solved one issue, did not fix the root of the problem.

We continue to overcome the coronavirus.

During this pandemic, we faced racial injustice and political strife from a record-breaking election.

I believe humans, in general, the Dayton community and Raiders are resilient. I hope as you digitally flip through these pages, you will remember, not what knocked these communities down, but everything we overcame to stand back up.

In the creation of the inaugural issue of Flight Magazine, I hope to remind you that in troubled times, there is also celebration. In each negative situation, there is always a positive takeaway. And without any bad days, we may not appreciate the good ones. As Albus Dumbledore puts it, ‘Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.’

Regardless of what we expected 2020 to look like, and come what may of 2021, we have overcome a great deal, and we have much, if not more, to be thankful.