As a current third-year undergraduate student, I am frustrated. My class the current undergraduate juniors have lost out on so many valuable college experiences, that we will never retain and now it feels like there’s almost this aggravating pressure to “catch up”.
It wasn’t until I got sick last semester and couldn’t go out, that I realized I was so obsessed with going out every chance I could because I wanted to make up for the lost time. I was so upset and not because I was sick, but because I was missing out on parties. It was then I realized that no matter how many times we go out, we are never going to get those years back. All our life people have told us, “These will be the best years of your life” and yet ours were just torn away from us. We are experiencing the ultimate “FOMO” as we have already missed out on so much.
Last Semester I felt the need to do it all. I remember logging on to Beengaged and signing up for anything and everything that sparked my interest. I’m talking Kickline all the way to Ski Club! I was looking to get involved on campus and meet as many new people Within a week my email was overflowing with messages from all of these clubs and organizations. I quickly realized it was simply impossible to be involved in all of these organizations at once, and that it would be beneficial for me to find a club or organization I truly enjoy and be able to commit to it.
Overall, this experience has taught me many valuable life lessons, and I do believe that in the end we should all try and see the brighter side of things. For one, everyone has gained a tremendous amount of resilience throughout this pandemic as every single one of us lost or gave up something to Covid-19. The most important thing that this situation has taught me is to live life to its fullest at every moment. You truly never know when you will be with those same people doing that same again, so make it worthwhile.
That being said, it’s important to embrace the now and live in the moment throughout the rest of your college days. Yes, we’ve missed out on things, but we’ve got a year and a half to make memories that will last a lifetime!