In the middle of March, my high school went online because of the coronavirus. We were told that this would only last two weeks at the most. Students looked forward to what seemed to be temporary change. But, this early spring break turned into a mandatory quarantine. And this mandatory quarantine kept lasting longer and longer as the virus continued to spread. Before I knew it, my high school experience ended abruptly. Surprisingly, I remained hopeful. I kept thinking of the day, months from then, when I would finally start college.
A defining moment of quarantine was making my college decision. It didn’t feel entirely abnormal (then again, I’ve never gone through the college application process). I was able to do thorough research about different schools before I committed to the University of Washington. When I chose a college, I felt a whirlwind of excitement. I added people on Instagram and Snapchat who also committed to UW. I found my roommate in a Class of 2024 group chat. These experiences didn’t feel compromised because they weren’t. I would have these same experiences regardless.
Then, over the summer, that feeling of normalcy went away. I had my orientation in mid-July. I was sad I didn’t get to go to campus, but I figured it would still be worthwhile. But as it turns out, online orientation was nowhere near the same. All of the moments and traditions were either altered or didn’t happen. It sucked but I wasn’t distraught. I still got to live on campus. I had signed up for in-person classes (which were eventually moved online). But then the summer kept going. The virus was spreading at an alarming rate. Other universities were opening up and many weren’t taking it seriously. Each week, I heard about a new university that had to shut down because of the rising number of cases. It was at that moment that the weight of the situation dawned on me. I spent the weeks leading up to move-in nervous. I was nervous getting the coronavirus would be inevitable. But I mostly felt frustrated and hopeless. I truly believed I was going to be robbed of my college experience.
Strangely enough, despite all of this, I consider myself lucky. I catch myself thinking about “what might have been” and reality isn’t that far off. Throughout the summer, I kept wondering what my freshman year would be like. Would I get a group of close friends instantly? Would I have a hard time keeping up with my schoolwork since it’s all online? Would coming to campus even be worth it this quarter? I’ve been on campus for less than a month so I don’t have definitive answers to these questions. It’s definitely odd starting such a new experience during this time. But, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. I’ve made close friends; I’ve learned a lot in my classes; I began to explore Seattle.
My freshman year is different than it should’ve been, but it’s been memorable nonetheless. I can safely say that I’m having the college experience; a claim many college freshmen don’t get to make.