Chancellor Martin opened up his State of the University address by saying, “2020 was a year like no other.” Unprecedented. Unusual. I’ve heard those words so many times over the past year that they’ve lost all meaning. At this point, I wouldn’t even define my first academic year as unprecedented; in the context of the school year, I’d just call it exhausting. Unprecedented might have been when all University students got sent home in March. It may have been unprecedented when the freshmen, masked, all attempted to make friends while following the COVID guidelines. But at this point, as a first-year student, the unprecedented is merely routine.

Chancellor Martin’s State of the University address may have painted a hopeful picture, but the everyday reality for students is a little different. The State of the University address was the picture-perfect Instagram profile when we just needed a little authenticity. Maybe it’s the fact that for the past week I’ve been scurrying between my dorm and BD like a mouse, trying to get food in the shortened dining hours and not end up with frostbite instead. It may have to do with the fact that I’ve been logging 10 hours a day on the computer, juggling Zoom classes and the infinite list of tasks in my planner. There’s a real need to acknowledge the pandemic’s impact on the mental health of the faculty, staff and student body of Washington University.

According to Martin’s statistics, the University was successful this year. He lauded Wash. U.’s record-breaking admission rate, the increasingly diverse faculty and the increase in grant money. And yes, those statistics are impressive in the context of overcoming the struggles this past year. The University should be putting its resources towards things like providing technology to students without access, and, additionally, the Chancellor’s Careers Fellows Program is valuable in its push for professional development for first generations students. Yet to a certain extent, the state of the University is not its statistics, and this is where the address missed its mark. Those numbers avoid issues with the University’s responses to important issues regarding COVID response, addressing mental health concerns and the Defund WUPD movement that has gained momentum on campus. Important pushes from the students about the issues that have impacted all of us were largely ignored, yet they make up a crucial part of the environment on campus.

I completely understand the desire to be optimistic about the future and to highlight the achievements of the past year. But if that was Chancellor Martin’s objective, maybe he should have refrained from calling it the State of the University. What could have been an empathetic, concerned discourse for an audience of drained students instead felt like an advertising pitch.

Chancellor Martin concluded his State of the University address by proclaiming, “We can do anything as long as we do it together.” But I’m not sure I can mentally handle another full year of Zoom university. I’m doing my best with the breakout rooms and the one-minute window to reserve my gym slot in the limited-capacity Sumers Rec Center. Realistically, what’s getting me through this semester is the thought that there are better times ahead.