It is winter break right now at the university where I work, which is also the same university where I was once a student, many years ago. The campus is very quiet, and the days have been very dark. Students have gone home to be with their families and loved ones until the new year and term begins. With the cyclical nature of a life that has been long influenced by the recurrence of patterns driven by the timing of the academic calendar, I recognize that this time of year is often one of intense reflection for me. I have taken some time off from my job, and I have spent these last days doing more of what I have also been doing these past fifteen months, determined to not allow myself to become immobilized by disbelief, despair, and grief, which becomes increasingly challenging with each passing day. I have seen students in Gaza study by flame and torch light in the midst of falling bombs, students giving their thesis presentations in makeshift tents, wandering the destroyed ...