Reality For Some College Students During Covid

College is a massive change from high school, pandemic or not, but as a college student during a pandemic I can whole heartedly share that it has certainly been a roller coaster. Growing up I always thought college was going to be this magical place where I’m going to know how to do everything and I’m going to meet super amazing people that I’ll be friends with forever. It was just one of those things that I glorified because I needed something to keep me sane.

My shift into college life from high school was, and still is, incredibly rough. At first it was rough because I had to adjust to being three hours ahead of my time zone at home. Then it was rough trying to figure out where everything was and how long it took to get from point a to point b. Then it got rough when my family left and school actually started. Most of my classes are online and the classes I have that are in person I’m not able to talk to them so the only friends I had here were my family but now they’re gone too. 

As time went by I noticed that a lot had changed and I was a much different person compared to who I was when I had just moved. From my eating and sleeping habits to my appearance to my mental state, it had all changed, some for better and others for worse. I was slowing slipping back into my old habits that I had spent years breaking. 

I’m not the most social person and I prefer a couple people or being alone to a large group but I’m reaching a point of I wish I could be with a large group of people. Thankfully though I’m still a little hopeful that this won’t last for too much longer and I’ll be able to make friends with people in my classes and I’ll get to spend more time doing things and making memories. Even though its been a thunderstorm in a convertible with a broken top I can’t say that I haven’t been grateful for all of this time and space to figure myself out without everyone else's input. Through the course of the pandemic, March to October currently, I’ve learned a lot about myself and been able to grow as a person as well. 

Clearly it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for me but not everyone has had a rough pandemic and that’s totally okay! The pandemic has altered at least one aspect of everyones life and for some people it was the best thing that could have happened which is super cool. So yeah, sure, not everyone had the same pandemic experience but at the end of the day we all did experience the pandemic and that alone is enough to make things just a bit easier. 

One of my friends that lives in South Carolina, her name is Brianna, she has had some of the most amazing times of her life because of the opportunities this pandemic presented her. She has been able to get a full time job, move into her own apartment, and get her dog back from the animal shelter because before the pandemic she wasn’t financially stable enough to keep him. She was also able to find a group of people that she truly connects with and is able to be open and honest with. She had the chance to have hard conversations with some people who wronged her and vice versa which opened her eyes up to a number of things. Overall her pandemic memories are good and full of growth in many ways which makes me glad that the pandemic did bring light into some lives.

This is me now, in October, month 7 of the pandemic:

This is me on the last Friday before the lockdown began: 

It may seem cheesy, even a little silly or stupid, but even though I look happier before I know that I wasn’t. Even though I don’t look as smiley as I did before I’m now content with myself and slowly working towards wearing the things I want to wear confidently. There has been a lot of hardship and struggle during Covid but there have certainly been some beautiful things that came from it as well. 

If it was possible I would wish for another pandemic, just without the virus and death part. I suppose a 7 month vacation would be one way of putting it.