When a Global Pandemic Gives you Lemons You Dig Deep and Find a Way to Make Lemonade Better

• Main Author: Holm, Todd
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato 2020
• Subjects: COVID-19; intercollegiate forensics; forensics; national tournament; Speech and Rhetorical Studies; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/speaker-gavel/vol57/iss1/3; https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/context/speaker-gavel/article/1254/viewcontent/Holm___When_Life_Gives_You_Lemons.pdf

So far, the year 2020 has been fraught with obstacles. Australian brush fires burned over 18 million hectares of land, thousands of buildings, and killed hundreds of people. Indonesia, Japan, Puerto Rico, and parts of the continental US saw massive flooding. The Taal Volcano in the Philippines erupted and caused the evacuation of more than 300,000 people. There have been 45 earthquakes over 6 magnitudes in Turkey, The Caribbean, China, Iran, Russia, Philippines, India, and other countries. Algae blooms in Antarctica have caused the snow to turn green, and there are literally swarms of locus in parts India, Asia, and Africa. The US has seen the Boy Scouts of America file for bankruptcy, race riots, extreme stock market volatility, and murder hornets. But all of that has been eclipsed by the COVID-19 Corona Virus Pandemic. The global pandemic has closed borders, cancelled the Summer Olympics, cancelled professional sports in most countries. The pandemic has caused people to work from home, self-quarantine, and wear face masks to go to the store. It also caused the cancellation of all national college forensics tournaments and is well on its way to reshaping higher education and intercollegiate forensics forever. I would argue, that is not a bad thing.