Living In The Times of COVID: A Guide
The spread of the COVID-19 outbreak has changed the world as we know it, human interaction has been greatly diminished, new guidelines are developed every week and the idea of being socially distant has been drilled until all of our heads to the point of redundancy.
Just like many people, students are among those who may be bearing the full effect of this change as a lack of career establishment and the confines to online education only seems like the least of worries. Studies and individual stories during this time has also shown that the lack of social interaction has started to take a massive toll on society and have left many worried about the world we’ll be left in once social distancing is fully lifted.
The change was abrupt for college students, with trying to survive in-person classes already proving to be difficult for some. What made college great for most was fundamentally changed as study areas, dorm life, gym sessions, eating out and simply going to class becoming the parts of college that faced the brunt of the shelter in place.
Sure, you may no longer have to worry about your roommate kicking you out of your shared room at 1 in the morning when he brings his girlfriend over, but soon enough you realize that it’s those little things like that are missed the most. College is characterized by misadventures, learning new things and (hopefully) that final step before you are fully immersed in adulthood.
No matter how you slice it, college students from every year are affected in ways that can prove unique to every year. Incoming freshmen may have to see their college for the first time through a virtual platform, college relationships- both romantic and platonic- may be put to the test more than ever and those who enjoyed that freedom away from home seemingly find themselves back at square one.
What becomes left of the college campus is something that can only be associated with emptiness as the very buildings have become locked and those people you experienced this new world with are nowhere to be found.
This, however, does not mean that everything with you and college needs to come to a complete stop- life will be just a little more watered down and take just a little more effort to reach to the people you’re closest to (like maybe through this little thing called Zoom). There’s also that off-chance that not everything on campus is closed down- such as the dorms or Student Union. This may prove to be some relief towards those who miss some of the simplicity college provided and want just a small taste of the normalcy that came before the lockdown.
Similarly to other times of collective anxiety, it seems that the connective tissue that binds college students and just people in general is social media. This is something that one can use to escape from reality as the power of filters and post preferences creates a bubble that frees you up a little from those aspects of the real world you don’t want to deal with in times like these.
Those in shelter have felt every possible range of emotions as the lockdown has essentially affected the entire way day-to-day life in accomplished
In the most recent of developments, it was announced that many districts in California are going to remain on lockdown, parts of the United States are starting to slowly reopen and average citizens are starting to fight the lockdown as essential workers remain some of the only permitted workers during this time.
The first thing you need to do is reduce the amount of time you’re spending watching the news- I can assure you that if a world-changing happens when you are ignoring the news, you will find out relatively quickly as soon as you log in to your social media. You may be wondering why I’m discouraging you from constantly watching the news?
Because you are not missing anything- the world as a whole has changed as a result of the outbreak. We are practicing social distancing which means you have to keep interaction to a minimum and you more than likely can’t leave home for your job or have to work from online. Meanwhile, the number of cases have gone on the rise, numbers have gone down in some places- but for the most part, the worry from two months ago is the same as it is now as politicians and scientists make aimless shots in the dark. So you’re not missing anything and time has shown that politics/scientists are about as lost as you are.
This does not mean you should be thinking about it by the way, or at the very least keep those thoughts to a minimum as it is very easy to find yourself in a mental black hole just thinking about how all of this started, if this could have been prevented and the self-destructive mindset that this whole thing set your future back to unknown lengths.
The second thing that I’m going to suggest is working on fitness, I literally discovered the best type of workout the other day that has helped so much in terms of burning calories while simultaneously building muscle. Literally wearing a backpack and walking around with 25+ pound weights in your backpack and performing cardio workouts is a perfect way of building muscle and burning those calories you’re worried you may have acclimated during your possible less-than-healthy diet you’ve acquired during quarantine.
The other things that I suggest is thinking about your future and starting at the very least thinking about or doing little things to build towards your future. Some people become essential workers because as the lockdown has shown, despite being considered a lockdown, people are still called in to play their part. Of course, if you do not want to step outside then that is completely okay but just make sure you have a plan because no matter how long this whole thing lasts- there is a tomorrow guaranteed.
