COVID has impacted each and every person in their own way. But yet, somehow, it might be the first time in our lifetime, that the entire world is experiencing the same thing at the same time. And, I think that’s pretty cool.
CHANGE
COVID has obviously made a huge change in the lives of most people. Daily responsibilities (such as work/school, daily routines, daily activities) all halted to a quick stop. And now that we have resumed, we are expected to embrace this new change and way of life, but it’s not as easy as it seems and it’s okay to be struggling with that! I was somebody that used to hate change. I like things to be how they are expected; I like to stick to schedule, and I don’t like when things go unplanned. “Going with the flow” is something I’ve struggled with before, but with COVID, I decided to look at this situation from a new perspective. Something I often remind myself, is how different my life is now, compared to a year ago. Yes, I’m looking at you Snapchat Memories! I know us Miami students can’t go to tailgates right now, but nobody in the world can either. We might not be able to see our favorite artist in concert, but remember, nobody can. We are together and connected in a way like never before, and thinking like this can be comforting.
EMBRACING THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES
While I could sit and sulk about how an entire year (and perhaps more) of the best four years of my life have been suddenly ripped away, doing that gets pretty old, especially now that it’s been over 6 months. So, instead, I have tried to think of some positives I have gained from this pandemic. First, I get to spend more quality time with all my friends, something that I value a lot in my life. For the first time, my friends (who are spread out over four of the six sororities and five of the eleven schools at Miami) finally get to spend time all together without any pre existing commitments we would normally have. This is one of the gifts that I have found through COVID times, and something that I have been very grateful for. In my free time, I’ve had the opportunity to take more weekend and day trips to Delray and Boca Raton, something that I normally wouldn’t do because of social event FOMO. Changing your perspective from thinking about all the things you can’t do anymore because of COVID, to thinking about the new opportunities you now have because of COVID, is a small switch you can make that I find to be very effective. For example, my roommates and I recently got a puppy which is something we would have never had the opportunity or time to do before. So yeah, I can’t go to Fantasy Fest this year, but I do have an adorable puppy who I’m going to dress up in the cutest halloween costume! For me, I think this balances out.
FINDING A NEW ROUTINE
In my opinion, finding a new routine this semester has been one of the most challenging parts about being in college during a pandemic. We no longer go to campus everyday for class. We no longer get to interact with students and meet new classmates. We no longer can go to the library and study with a big group of people until 2 am the night before our midterm. For the most part, we are surrounded by the same people everyday, and don’t get as many opportunities to socialize. This is something that’s hard for our age, and is a huge change from the environment we are used to being in. We like to work hard and play hard. It can be difficult to stay motivated when working from the same desk you take your five classes from. One thing I have found to be helpful when trying to make a new routine, is to pick different spots to take different classes from. Switching up your environment can improve focus and help when deciphering classes. Some spots to attend your online classes could be a coffee shop, the library (you have to reserve a spot beforehand), an apartment lobby, or even on your apartment balcony if you have one!
While times are different for everyone right now, it’s important to remember that we are all being affected by this in one way or another. It’s not a competition of “whose life sucks the most right now,” but instead should be a time where we can embrace life for what it is at the moment, take advantage of the things we can do now that we couldn’t do before, and stay hopeful towards the future by knowing that life will not be like this forever.