Claudia Giunta
St. Edward’s University Junior & Citizen Discourse Intern
When I left for spring break this past March I was not aware it would be the last time I would be in my apartment with my roommates. I casually said goodbye to my friends, not knowing that we wouldn’t see each other for an extended period of time. For all we knew, we would be reunited in a week and finish our last few months of school in crowded restaurants, coffee shops, and the library, studying for our finals. We would celebrate our friends who were graduating and honor their academic successes with a graduation ceremony. We never said goodbye properly.
This pandemic has meant isolation, anxiety, and a heightened fear of the unknown for people around the world. It has impacted areas of my life that I would have never expected. Virtual learning, facemasks, and social distancing were not something I signed up for when deciding to pursue a college education.
When people ask me how college has been during this pandemic, I say it feels like the movie “Groundhog Day.” I wake up, log on to zoom, and spend hours in front of a screen. All of this is accomplished without a change of scenery and little human connection. I go to bed, tossing and turning, anxiously exploring the future’s unanswerable questions and wake up to do the same thing again. I am no longer able to meet up in study groups or surround myself with productive friends who motivate me to work tirelessly into the night. I lack motivation and find myself questioning when the light at the end of the tunnel will reveal itself.
But in all the bad, there are blessings in disguise. I have grown as an individual and have been able to explore my passions and take the time to understand myself. This time last year I would’ve jumped at the chance for more time, a break from the hustle of my go-getter schedule to explore passions and try new things. And then the universe gave us a worldwide pandemic and weeks in quarantine. Just what I asked for, right? Well, not quite, but making the best out of a bad situation is what I had to do to stay sane. I fell in love with reading again, finishing a book in a day like my 12-year-old self did regularly. I began writing, cooking, and spending more time with my family cooped up in the house. I was lucky that my “quarantine bubble” included my grandparents who lived two blocks away and I regularly went over to their house to play cards, watch Jeopardy, or reminisce on old memories together. Looking back, nothing in that moment was abnormal. We were together and our laughter distracted us from the reality happening outside of our safe homes.
After experiencing virtual learning, I have learned how to manage new stresses of what this means as a college student. I have been completing a virtual education from my new home in Southern California, where wifi is spotty and a two hour time difference can mean a 7am class. This has challenged me to improve my time management skills and handle work efficiently while taking advantage of the time I have living with my family. Technology has replaced physical human connection, but taking advantage of it has proven beneficial to my academic and personal life. Study groups and group projects are conducted through Zoom meetings and professors’ office hours are held virtually from the comfort of home. Long walks across campus in between classes have been replaced with short walks to the kitchen for a caffeine break. Time spent with my roommates has been replaced with time spent with my siblings. One day, this will be something I look back on with a smile, remembering how the inside jokes shared with my siblings had us doubled over in laughter.
Though I am met with new challenges daily, I have learned what’s important: hold on to hope, stay connected with friends and family, and take care of myself. It will be worth it.
