COVID-19 has taken a toll on life. People have lost jobs—myself included—and lives have been lost. It’s also uprooted the social life of many who care enough about others to social distance and quarantine themselves. However, through this tough time, there are many things I have learned. I’ve learned new skills and I’ve learned new life lessons. I’d like to share a few of those.
My personal day-to-day has not changed much since the outbreak began; I was already introverted. But there are things within my life that changed because of the pandemic. For starters, I lost my job because I worked for the university I attend. I’m lucky to still be supported by my mom, but my source of income was lost. Switching to online classes didn’t help either. I already can’t focus on online classes, that’s why I picked in-person classes. As someone who needs structure to keep them on track and stable, this really threw a wrench in my life. It’s tough to keep your mental health where it should be when there are less distractions to keep you going.
However, once I was able to get on somewhat of a schedule, I was able to enjoy my new free time more. I began to cook more and find new recipes to try and experiment with. I also was able to do more writing in my novel and read. But besides polishing up these skills, the biggest take away I took so far was a life lesson.
A little delayed, I know. I’m sure by now you’re anxious to know what I’m really talking about. The life lesson I finally learned at the ripe age of twenty was to just go for what you want. I learned this mostly through the advice of a friend of mine when I commented on how I wished I had courage like she did in asking a guy out at a coffee shop months ago. She said, “I just think ‘what’s the worst that can happen?’ If I already know the worst, than what’s stopping me?” I began to think on this, and it inspired me to be more confident.
Right before the pandemic put us on a lockdown, I was doing what I call “Sad Tindering.” I had just gone through a rough break up and needed a quick dose of validation from strangers, but right before I was about to delete the app, satisfied and now over the mess that is men on dating apps, I spied a guy in someone’s photos whom I had had the biggest crush on since freshmen year of college. So, I of course—awkwardly and politely—but also apologetically, asked his friend if he was single. He never got back to me, so I moved on about my life, taking the loss because the worst thing that could happen was just that—he ignored me. Thinking nothing of it, weeks later I get a DM on Instagram from the friend handing me this guy’s Snapchat. Now this is where it really comes into play. I stared at it for days, but then finally I told myself “the worst that can happen is that he’s not interested.” I made my move like a high schooler using Snapchat and magically enough, it worked.
I never would be going out with the guy from one of my intro journalism classes now if it weren’t for the random advice from my friend that was completely unrelated. Of course, it’s hard to date during a pandemic, but it’s given us ways to be creative dates. I just want every girl to take my friend’s advice to heart, “if you know what the worst is that can happen than you can prepare for it and not let it hold you back.” So, whether it’s in your personal life or work life, get that promotion and ask out your crush. Go for the things you want, no matter how scary they might seem to voice.