I ran into this issue a lot when putting together the second issue of No Fidelity, this April: There is no good way to say anything about anything right now. Everything seems trite, nothing seems to do anything justice, all sense seems lost in this sort of primordial soup into which everything seems to have re-entered since the pandemic began.
I don’t wish to pontificate here, but I will say this and keep it brief. The Bucket has felt, to me, like the most real shit that had happened since quarantine began. By that I mean it wasn’t a lame recreation of the socializing we are all mourning right now; it succeeded within its own boundaries and exemplified (if I may brag for a sec here) the possibilities of national and international connection and collaboration during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was fun not because it made a good effort to be, but because it was.
We’d come up with the idea for The Bucket back in late May when the summer looked forboding, unsure, and endless. I, at least, had envisioned something rigid, structured, and which students could put on their resumes in lieu of now-canceled summer plans. Luckily, things were much more freeform than that and took on a beautiful life of its own.
We ended up with music, a podcast series, beautiful and captivating art, thought-provoking articles, and more. Just click through our posts; there is nothing unhopeful on this site, I’d go so far as to say. The pieces themselves are intriguing, but the sense of connection and community this little project was able to foster is something almost even more amazing. I’m really, really proud, both of Carls’ ability to form meaningful connections and of the College’s wonderful music-listening and radio communities (oh, and not to mention the Class of 2024, who did most of the posting on this site and did some super badass stuff).
The planned end-date had originally been September 1. I’ve been putting writing and posting this off for a while because putting an end to this project feels like kissing goodbye a very solid and real-feeling support during such an unsure and scary time. There may be a few posts here and there after this (and maybe, eventually, it’ll return) but for now, it seems, The Bucket has ended.
That said, I would like to thank all of our supporters and contributors this summer, and I hope whatever comes next for everybody goes OK.
– Nicole Collins (& Bucket Crew: Cole Schiffer, Holland Votaw, Sarah Westrich, Lauren Witmer)