Copley Connects Fall 2025 / Spring 2026

Building Community Connections committee, whose charge is to combat the loneliness epidemic by hosting fun events at Copley Library throughout the semester. Next up are scenic shots of vacationing in Catalina Island (after submitting my second ARRT dossier), which, alas, resulted in a kayaking incident and torn rotator cuff. Then an absurd post about a book arriving eight years after the library ordered it — long since

sourced from a different supplier. I love pursuing what makes San Diego vibrant, from a local shoe repair shop inside a pinata store, to Folk Art Rare Records, Balboa Park’s Mingei Museum, An’s Gelato, Comic-Con, Azuki Sushi, beach life, perusing plants at City Farmers Nursery, and more recently patronizing Revision Creative Workspace, a studio offering arts programing to adults with developmental disabilities. Other posts reveal that I collect beautiful cookbooks, like Bethlehem by Fadi Kattan, that I am deeply moved when listening to music, I spoil my ginger cat, and I possess the self-deprecating sense of humor common among New Zealanders. Since 2023 these posts have been interspersed with candid discussion of my cancer diagnoses — Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma. While not aggressive forms of blood cancer, being immunocompromised, spouts of fatigue, low platelets, and enlarged lymph nodes is challenging at times. Sharing my story has been an important part of my healing process and I credit USD’s supportive environment for nurturing this sentiment. In John Green’s book, Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of our Deadliest Infection , the author writes, “It reminded me, that when we know about suffering, when we are proximal to it, we are capable of extraordinary generosity. We can do and be so much for each other. But only when we see one another in our full humanity. Not as statistics or problems, but as people who deserve to be alive in the world.” I agree that in a world with so much division, human connection in real time is so important. Social media platforms provide a false sense of community, algorithms cater to our biases and have shrunk attention spans to mere headlines, television shows are now being designed for “second-screen” watching. Yet, research shows a declining use in social media so there is hope for community rebuilding and long-form reading will have a resurgence in the near future.

Images courtesy of Millie Fullmer

UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO | 9