Let’s get real: I’m not going to lie when I say I don’t like the new normal the world is in. I don’t enjoy wearing masks, remaining six feet apart from people or doing everything online. I don’t like it and I won’t lie by pretending I do. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to deal with it.
I don’t pay thousands in tuition to learn nothing. I came to college to learn multiple things, not just material in the classroom. I came to college to learn how to be an adult, and being an adult comes with understanding that there will be (lots) of times where being responsible and respectful is not fun. Think about it. Being polite is the respectful thing to do, even when, sometimes, you want nothing more than to scream and kick and yell when someone inconveniences you. Wearing a mask is the responsible thing to do even if you don’t like it. I HATE wearing a mask, especially when I go to the gym. Breathing is hard and labored when you’re working out and wearing a mask only traps the hot air you’re blowing out of your mouth. But I still wear it. Because this is the new normal.
The “new normal” has put my maturity to the test but I think I’m doing okay thusfar. I am practicing “adulting” when I objectively take myself out of the bigger picture in the face of the pandemic. I am low-risk and likely to be asymptomatic if I contract COVID-19 because I have no underlying health conditions. But I have professors who aren’t as lucky as I am. I KNOW people who could easily get sick if they fall positive. We wear masks to, yes, slow the spread of COVID-19, but also to be respectful of those who could easily get dangerously sick if they become positive. That doesn’t mean you have to like it, but that’s life. The new normal calls for being even more respectful, in ways we didn’t think possible before.
I don’t say this to call out those who are expressive about not wanting to wear masks. I am waaaaay too expressive in my disdain for them. But you will never see me in public without one because I care for the greater good of society more than I care about myself, especially in times like these. I am no longer a teenager. I’m an adult. And being an adult means I have to get used to putting others above myself. This is just the new normal.