The COVID-19 pandemic has given me a heartbreaking end to my senior year. This outbreak has taken a lot away from me, and I know I’m not the only senior who feels this way. I had to move out of my dorm and back home. It’s been somewhat difficult to adjust to finishing my last semester from home instead of a classroom. Since I have more time on my hands, I continuously find myself thinking about all the things I’m missing out on due to the pandemic. For starters, I’m missing out on finishing my last semester in the comfort of my dorm surrounded by my roommates. I can’t see my friends because we’re all quarantined in our own houses, some of which are out of state.
Lasell has graduation countdown celebrations for 100, 75, 50, and 25 days. We had 100 days and 75 days but losing these last two celebrations makes everything that’s happening more real. We’ve looked forward to these for years and not being together to celebrate our last days together is so hard to take in.
Another major celebration here in Massachusetts, Marathon Monday, is gone. Marathon Monday is a day for everyone to have off from classes to watch the marathon and party and just have a good time before we start finals in the coming weeks. I missed the last one because I was abroad, and knowing that I don’t get my last one as a college student sucks.
Torchlight Parade is a major Lasell tradition that everyone looks forward to. I torch-posed to three of my underclassmen friends with a proposal I worked so hard on. We would’ve walked through Lasell at night while holding torches that symbolize the passing down of my legacy onto them. I don’t even get the chance to officially pass my torch down to them. This was something the four of us have been looking forward to since we met three years ago. The worst part is knowing that this is a tradition that was taken away from them too.
I’ve lost the last few weeks I have as a member of NACE Lasell and Her Campus Lasell. I don’t get to go to those final meetings. These clubs have been my rock and my escape from my work these last few years that not being able to go to events or meetings kills me. I’ve worked so hard as a member of both of these clubs and I just wanted to enjoy the last little bit of time I had left with these wonderful people.
Senior Week would’ve been the week leading up to graduation. Lasell had so many amazing things planned for seniors to look forward to. This was our chance to fully celebrate the life-changing event happening at the end of the week. For me, my 22nd birthday also fell during Senior Week. On that day, we would’ve been at Mohegan Sun for the night celebrating and enjoying our time together. Now, I can’t even celebrate my birthday with my friends.
And the absolute worst part of this entire thing: no graduation in May. Lasell has decided to postpone graduation until the fall of this year or winter of 2021. By doing this, we don’t get to have our graduation on campus, making us the only graduating class of Lasell not to have the chance to walk across the stage on campus. I’m grateful that we’re still holding it, but knowing that it won’t be on campus is the most heartbreaking news to hear. I’m missing out on such special memories that would’ve lasted a lifetime.
I have watched my senior year crumble away underneath me and it’s devastating. Everything that I’ve looked forward to has been ripped from right underneath me. I’ve lost my last few months to truly enjoy the last bit of my college experience in the place that I’ve called home for four years. It’s unfair. I hope that this awful pandemic will end soon so that everything can go back to normal. Please stay safe everyone.