As the omicron variant prompted COVID cases to soar throughout the holiday season, I was not surprised to hear that my university decided to make the first two weeks of the winter quarter remote. If anything, I felt hesitant to think that I would even be back at my university within the next two months. I still remember the time where I was optimistically thinking that I would ever return to class when I was in my community college, only to return in-person as a junior at a different school. Considering how rough March 2020 was for many around the world, I was under the assumption that this was just a repeat of what was to come.
Imagine my surprise when I hearD that my classes would be in person by the end of the month. I cannot say that I was happy, or scared, as I’m at a point where I am experiencing pandemic fatigue on a daily basis and there’s this simultaneous feeling of excitement to get out of my house yet risk potentially contracting COVID. After asking, many of my peers and professors feel the same way, as they all collectively have their own loved ones to care for.
Suffice to say, stepping onto campus after nearly a month on Zoom was a surreal experience. I forgot how my legs burned every time I walked to campus from the parking lot, and how there were a variety of conflicting smells that circulated when I walked between the Coffee Bean and The Habit. There was also that momentary experience where I suddenly forgot how to interact with other students and disappeared into a figurative shell.
Dealing with this numb feeling has been challenging, and I know that only so much can be done to mitigate it. What has helped me, though, is reaching out to other people and avoiding the dreadful “doomscroll” whenever I can. It was also helpful to hear from professors at my current and community college, as they deal with their own struggles of returning and navigating their classes in a strange and uncertain time. The pandemic may not be going away, and that anxiety of everything shutting down again may linger, but the best thing that one can do at this point is just push through.