As we go through our third online quarter, we are nearing our one year mark of starting online school. After months of social distancing and living in our new “normal”, we should be settling into our new routine, but winter quarter is especially hard. Winter quarter has always proven itself to be exceptionally difficult. I remember my freshman year my friends and I were struggling to get by and we all hoped summer break arrived sooner. Last year, I skipped and left classes early and spent a majority of my time on my bed. This year, I am struggling to keep up with deadlines.
I thought this was interesting because I was able to take five upper-division classes (for the first time) and finish my assignments before working 19 hours on the weekend. So what is so different between last quarter and now? After a quick search on Google, I found that January is the most depressing month. Maybe it is because we make a list of resolutions that we do not quite keep by the second week. Maybe we are exhausted from the holidays and need time to regroup. Whichever reason it may be, this year we have the added stress of a pandemic that has taken the lives of 2.14 million people.
To expect ourselves to stay on top of our academics when racism is prevalent and people are dying at high rates (701 deaths in the US on January 15) is unrealistic. As time goes on, managing remote learning during a pandemic is not getting any easier. It is actually taking a toll on our mental health. We may have started the pandemic with Zoom parties and baking our troubles away, but as time goes on we are not as hopeful or motivated. Progress in the vaccination distributions and an end to the pandemic are looming, but that does not mean we will return to normal. The end of the pandemic will not erase the lives lost or the lowest lows we experienced.
During this time, it is important to take time for yourself. The best advice I have received during the pandemic was to let yourself feel the worry and anger. I have tried to ignore the all-consuming negative thoughts, and it made me feel numb. To combat this, something new I picked up is keeping a journal of happy moments. There are not many while we are enduring quarantine and social distancing, but something like reading a good book or having a conversation with an old friend have made me happy.