I hope you are all doing well and staying safe. I have decided to do something a little different this week for my blog post. With everything going on, I have decided to do a blog post about my life during these times. Many people have been interested about what it is like to be a college student during this time, so I thought I would write about my experience.
A Spring Break Disrupted
Typically during spring break students are getting a much needed break during their second semester. Many students will either go home for a nice refreshing visit to their families, stay on campus to relax, or go on vacation all around the country and the world. However this year spring break looked a little different for most of us students. Over my spring break, which was originally suppose to only be from March 6th through the 15th, I got an email from UNC about how we would now do classes remotely and that I was not to return to UNC unless necessary. To be honest, I wasn’t completely shocked by this e-mail. The week before spring break there had been talk at UNC by many students and professors about how we might have to go to online classes for a couple weeks after spring break in order to control the spread of the virus. My friends and I all joked about how awesome that would be, because then we could have a nice couple of weeks away form UNC to have home cooked meals, see our friends from home and not have to change out of our pjs to go to class. Little did I know that when I hugged my college friends goodbye, I wouldn’t be seeing them till the next school year.
Thankfully, I live in Raleigh, NC, which is only 30 to 40 minutes from Chapel Hill, so I was able to return to my off campus apartment to retrieve some things. My mom asked if I wanted to move everything out, but I was unsure because at that point I still had hope that we might return to campus. However, that hope would soon be crushed as the days progressed and virus continued to wreaked havoc all over the world. Sunday March, 15th was a lot different than I had envisioned it. Originally, I was suppose to be heading back to campus getting read to dive back into the semester and having a nice dinner with my friends. However, I ended up being home, and running to multiple stores in order to find a pack of toilet paper. It just makes no sense to me why so many people are buying all this toilet paper. How does a respiratory virus relate to the need to buy all the toilet paper in sight?!? Here is a meme which sums it up for me:
Becoming a Student at UNC Chapel Hill Zoom
The University decided to extend our spring break by a week in order to give students time to adjust to this “new normal” and to get professors ready to lecture to their computer screen, rather than to a classroom full of students. In theory this kind of sounded nice. Being able to wake up 10 minutes before class to roll out of bed, brush my hair and log on to my computer sounded amazing. It sounded way better than waking up an hour before class to get ready and hike across campus. However, I didn’t realize how much I would miss the ability to walk around campus and see how it changed from the cool winter to the warm spring.
As that week progressed, more and more of life as I used to know would change into something that not even a movie could have made up. Slowly more and more stuff became restricted. I think what is being done is necessary, but it is hard and seems surreal This “new normal” is very isolating and bleak. My weeks now consist to listening to pre-recorded lectures, listening to lectures on zoom, taking many of walks with my family and dog, waiting in line to get into the grocery store, and finding any activity to at my home to keep me occupied. Initially, I was a little depressed, something I was not anticipating. During my second week of spring break I had a lot of free time to sit and wallow. I was feeling very isolated from my friends, I was sad I was not back at UNC, and the news of the pandemic was stressful. However, once school began online it gave me more of a schedule and helped to get me out of the funk. Additionally, my twin sister who was studying abroad in Australia returned home, which was stressful because we had to quarantine her, but a relief as we are very close and have a lot of fun together.
Online classes on zoom are not the best, to be frank. It is not the fault of the professors or any administration at UNC, or anyone for that matter. I never realized how much I actually enjoyed my walks through campus to get through class, talking with my friends before (during) and after class, and actually seeing my teacher face to face during lecture. I did not realize how much of a privilege it was to do these things. It is a lot harder for me to focus and learn when I do not have my professor in front of me. This whole experience is making me take nothing for granted. I will not take for granted being able to walk into a grocery store, sit at a restaurant, or being able to hug my grandparents. Additionally, I feel as if my learning is being directly impacted. For example, I am in a Microbiology lab, but now instead of performing experience hands on, we have to just read the lab manual and take quizzes. Further, some of my hands on group projects have changed in order to accommodate the new remote learning. You never realize how good you have it, until it’s gone.
Choosing Hope, Not Fear
Initially, I was very overwhelmed with all that changed and with all that was going on. I would watch the news all the time and would think about all that was suppose to be happening, but couldn’t because of the pandemic. However, that attitude caused me to be depressed and anxious. I had to shift my mindset, to one of hope and positivity. I started to realize how lucky I was. I am able to be home with my loving family. I am able to still get an educated, though it not be the same, it is better than nothing. I am lucky to be safe and healthy and not in a “hotspot”. Once I started thinking more like this I became a lot less stressed and not depressed anymore. I started to be productive during this time and not just sit around and worry.
If we all think more positively, and follow the rules the better this will be. We need to stay home unless necessary and when we are out we need to practice social distancing and be as clean as possible. We all need to work together as a society to flatten the curve and to get through this pandemic. Only when we all work together can this be done as effectively as possible. I want to encourage all you to not stress too much over this and to try and find the positives.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you have a safe and healthy week. Please message me if you need to talk! I do not want anyone to feel alone during this time!
Anna's Microbiology Blog 