Chap­ter 11 of Bell College’s his­to­ry took an unex­pect­ed turn in Decem­ber 2020 when the insti­tu­tion faced the ongo­ing chal­lenges of the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic. Bell Col­lege Pres­i­dent Hubert Crum­ley made a dif­fi­cult announce­ment: all in-per­son class­es and events would be sus­pend­ed indef­i­nite­ly. This deci­sion not only forced a tran­si­tion to remote learn­ing but also led to the can­cel­la­tion of the college’s long-stand­ing Christ­mas par­ty, a cher­ished tra­di­tion since 1992. The announce­ment sparked mixed reac­tions among fac­ul­ty and students—some pri­or­i­tized health and safe­ty, while oth­ers lament­ed the loss of per­son­al con­nec­tions.

Rod­dy Har­ris, a ded­i­cat­ed sci­ence pro­fes­sor, was among the most vocal crit­ics of the new restric­tions, argu­ing that vir­tu­al labs were no sub­sti­tute for hands-on sci­en­tif­ic exper­i­men­ta­tion. For him, the inabil­i­ty to con­duct phys­i­cal demon­stra­tions and pro­vide stu­dents with real-world expe­ri­ence posed a sig­nif­i­cant chal­lenge to the qual­i­ty of edu­ca­tion. His wife, Emi­ly, while equal­ly dis­heart­ened by the can­cel­la­tion of tra­di­tion­al learn­ing, was more affect­ed by the loss of the annu­al Christ­mas gath­er­ing, which had long served as a cor­ner­stone of social inter­ac­tion among fac­ul­ty and stu­dents.

Despite the set­back, Emi­ly refused to let the hol­i­day spir­it be extin­guished and quick­ly pro­posed an alter­na­tive plan to keep the tra­di­tion alive. She sug­gest­ed orga­niz­ing a vir­tu­al Christ­mas par­ty via Zoom, incor­po­rat­ing a unique twist to main­tain the warmth and excite­ment of the annu­al event. Instead of gath­er­ing in per­son, staff mem­bers would anony­mous­ly play the role of “Santa’s elves,” deliv­er­ing food and drinks to fac­ul­ty and stu­dents in their local com­mu­ni­ty while the vir­tu­al fes­tiv­i­ties car­ried on.

At first, the idea seemed imprac­ti­cal, but with grow­ing enthu­si­asm from col­leagues and stu­dents eager for a sense of nor­mal­cy, the plan gained momen­tum. Fac­ul­ty mem­bers vol­un­teered to coor­di­nate deliv­er­ies, while stu­dents signed up to par­tic­i­pate in var­i­ous vir­tu­al activ­i­ties, includ­ing a poet­ry read­ing, a triv­ia con­test, and even a remote “Secret San­ta” exchange. The event quick­ly evolved from a sim­ple online gath­er­ing into a well-orches­trat­ed cel­e­bra­tion, prov­ing that inno­va­tion and adapt­abil­i­ty could sus­tain tra­di­tions even in the most chal­leng­ing times.

When the night of the par­ty arrived, it was clear that the effort had been worth it. Screens were filled with famil­iar faces don­ning fes­tive attire, laugh­ing, and rem­i­nisc­ing about past cel­e­bra­tions. One of the most mem­o­rable moments occurred when Bon­nie Dahl, a for­mer stu­dent of Emily’s Ear­ly Amer­i­can Writ­ers class, arrived at Emily’s doorstep as part of the food deliv­ery ini­tia­tive. Bon­nie, beam­ing with excite­ment, took a moment to recon­nect with her for­mer pro­fes­sor, express­ing her grat­i­tude for Emily’s men­tor­ship and men­tion­ing her inter­est in apply­ing to the Writer’s Work­shop.

Emi­ly, moved by the encounter, real­ized that beyond the logis­tics of host­ing an event, the par­ty had accom­plished some­thing far greater—it had rekin­dled the sense of belong­ing that so many had lost over months of iso­la­tion. The vir­tu­al for­mat had allowed fac­ul­ty and stu­dents to come togeth­er despite phys­i­cal dis­tance, fos­ter­ing con­nec­tion in a way that felt just as mean­ing­ful as past in-per­son cel­e­bra­tions. The encounter with Bon­nie also remind­ed Emi­ly of the last­ing impact edu­ca­tors could have, rein­forc­ing her com­mit­ment to nur­tur­ing aspir­ing writ­ers despite the chal­lenges of remote learn­ing.

As the evening wound down and par­tic­i­pants exchanged vir­tu­al farewells, Emi­ly reflect­ed on how the pan­dem­ic had reshaped not just edu­ca­tion but the very fab­ric of social inter­ac­tion. While Rod­dy con­tin­ued to strug­gle with the lim­i­ta­tions of online instruc­tion, she found solace in the moments of inspi­ra­tion that emerged unexpectedly—whether through a for­mer student’s rekin­dled pas­sion for writ­ing or the resilience of a com­mu­ni­ty deter­mined to find joy amid adver­si­ty.

In the days that fol­lowed, Emi­ly and Rod­dy con­tin­ued adjust­ing to the new real­i­ty, know­ing that the chal­lenges of remote learn­ing and pan­dem­ic restric­tions were far from over. Yet, the suc­cess of the vir­tu­al Christ­mas par­ty served as a reminder that even in the face of uncer­tain­ty, tra­di­tion and con­nec­tion could endure. The event had not only kept the hol­i­day spir­it alive but had also rein­forced the impor­tance of human cre­ativ­i­ty and per­se­ver­ance, prov­ing that, in times of hard­ship, it is the small ges­tures of togeth­er­ness that make all the dif­fer­ence.