An article by Dr. Marc Muneal, entitled “Memoirs Are Made of This,” appeared on the Inside Higher Ed website Wednesday, May 27. In the piece, Muneal discusses the value of memoirs and diaries, particularly during times like these, and shares some takeaways about the resilience of his freshman students who completed memoir assignments in Spring 2020.

Exceprt:
This is the third time in my own life I find myself in a moment that has such significance. The last time, September 11, 2001, I was my students’ age, and while I have a very clear memory of nearly every hour of that day, I made no written record. The time before that won’t resonate with most Americans, but I was a Trinidadian child who experienced the government being overthrown by armed militia in a coup d’etat attempt in 1990. My family was actually living on the island of St. Lucia at the time, because of my father’s work, but my sister and I had arrived to spend summer vacation with my Granny mere hours before the militants made their move.

A nine-year-old child wouldn’t himself have made a particularly reliable or detailed record of such a time, but I have the next best thing: Granny was an avid diarist.