Freshmen never know exactly what to expect. No matter how many online blog posts you read, YouTube videos you watch, or times you visit campus, you will most likely have no idea what is going on during your freshman year. However, living through a global pandemic during my first year of college was the absolute last thing I expected.
In Spring 2020 when the word of COVID-19 began to sweep through campus, it was definitely a joke. No one thought professors would begin cancelling classes, people would be wearing masks in public, or we would be sent home for the rest of the semester.
However, that soon became our reality as we were told Spring Break was extended and classes would be held over Zoom, a platform foreign to most of us but renowned today.
Hopeful students learned how to work Zoom classes thinking this would only last for a short time. Little did we know. I was ending my first year of college at home, navigating online classes, not able to see anyone besides my family, with no clue how long this would last. On group Facetimes people would predict the length of our new reality. I was always optimistic, telling my friends I was sure we would return to campus before the semester was over. Then telling my best friend I was sure we would be able to see her for her birthday in May, to believing that this would only last a few months. None of this came true. The university announced we were to finish the year remotely. May rolled around and we were still in quarantine. Facetime replaced a birthday hug. A few months turned into an entire year.
I sat in my room devasted about such a good thing coming to an end. As bad as I felt for the UIUC seniors, who wouldn’t be able to graduate in person, I couldn’t help but feel just as bad for the freshmen. The memories yet to be made, relationships not fully formed, and our first taste of independence ripped away. Life did not feel real.
After moping around about what could have been, I decided things were out of my hands. I needed to make the best of the situation.
I took advantage of the down time. I got out of bed every day, did my schoolwork, went for a jog, and tried something new. I focused on learning as much as I could to feel satisfied at the end of the day. I was determined to get into a healthy routine to break the typical unhealthy habits that come along with living on your own. I decided I would make the next three years I had left on campus worth it because this proved that everything can be taken away in the blink of an eye.
Now, I am an independent sophomore. I take any leadership opportunity presented to me, I put my mental health first, I make daily schedules, and finish my schoolwork early. I go on long walks. I am a better version of myself.
Although my first year of college did not end the way I expected, it shaped me to who I am today, and I could not be more grateful for it.