Like many, the past year has been what seems like a simulation or fever dream. I imagined my senior year experience to unfold in many different ways. Being at home whilst living in my PJs and not stepping foot outside because of a global pandemic was not one of those scenarios. It’s not even close to the worst-case scenario I pictured in my mind. My worst-case scenario consisted of being very stressed about finding a job and planning my future that I wouldn’t be able to properly have fun my senior year. I guess to some degree this is my worst-case scenario, except I never got the chance to experience fun my senior year.
They say that once you graduate college, you’ll never really see the friends you’ve made because everyone gets busy living their lives. So I looked forward to making everlasting memories with my friends to hopefully look back on fondly. However, I feel like I’ve been robbed of that time. I’m the type of person that prefers meeting people and making connections face to face, so keeping in touch with friends over Zoom doesn’t cut it for me.
I also think the consistent uncertainty of the state of the world leaves me feeling more anxious and worried about my future after college. The news articles about the job market for young professionals are daunting, making it difficult to be bright and optimistic about things. I feel more lost than ever at a time when I’m supposed to be excited and ready to enter the world.
I don’t want to look back at my last year and overall college experience as somewhat disappointing because of the things I’ve missed out on, but it’s hard not to when the world is turning but none of us can move forward.
Okay, that sounds really dramatic but to put it plainly, this sucks, and I hope we’ll be able to make up for lost time once this is over. I’m trying to be more optimistic and I do think better days are headed our way soon. I hope we all are able to thrive this year!