Like most other people living a college or even grade school life right now, our entire world’s have been flipped upside down. Most of us are doing some hybrid version of school, while others, like myself, have been completely online for almost a year. For a lot of people this has been one of the hardest transitions of their schooling career, but for me it was a blessing in disguise.
I’d had a few online classes every semester since the beginning of college and while I didn’t mind it the thought of a full transition online scared me. I have a major problem with procrastinating and the thought of not having to actually attend classes in person made me think I wouldn’t be able to keep up a schedule. No in-person classes meant no in-person interactions, which I know is the point of all of it, but I had such a small friend circle to begin with. I ended up not going back to campus in the fall, opting to stay home and complete the semesters classes from there.
This ended up being the best decision I had made for myself. I’m an introvert by nature. I spent most of my time on campus holed away in my dorm watching Netflix anyway. The job I had while on-campus was also not happening. Working for special events during a pandemic doesn’t really work too well when mass gatherings aren’t permitted. With all classes online, no job, not even a dinning hall to go and eat in, the decision wasn’t difficult for me to make.
While I love being on campus and experiencing college life at its fullest, there wasn’t going to be a life to experience when my dorm room and a few grass fields were all I was going to see. Being at home not only made sure I was going to have people around me, but I also had a job to keep me busy.
I feel as if my life hasn’t stopped because of the pandemic but has actually sped up a bit during this time. Spending three years living on campus, away from home and my family, it gave me a chance to find myself a little bit and grow into a better version of myself without having the influence of a younger me still lingering around. However, being home for my last year has given me the chance to really focus on my future as well as my present. I’ve been able to look for better jobs and more opportunities in my area and I’ve also been able to relax a bit more.
This pandemic, whether being in school or not, has really just given me time to focus on my needs and wants. It’s allowed me to realize I don’t have to constantly be around people if I don’t want to be. That staying home (while still highly encouraged!) is sometimes the best thing. That while human interaction is important, I am very much okay with being on my own. It’s taught me to trust myself to do a full semester worth of classes online with no problem and to believe that everything, no matter how hectic life becomes, will turn out okay.
This pandemic still sucks, that’s not going to change anytime soon but I chose to use it as a learning curve. To prove to myself that I am way more capable of doing things than I first believed. So, yeah, it’s been rough but just look at how far you’ve grown and what you’ve become, because that is so much better than where we started.