Spring semester at the University of Wisconsin is something I have grown to treasure over my past three years in college — and was especially looking forward to this year. From sitting on Bascom Hill in between classes to bringing out the terrace chairs and then enjoying Babcock ice cream while sitting by Lake Mendota were just a few of the occasions I could not wait for this spring semester. Even more, though, I was supposed to go on spring break with one of my closest friends — my last ever spring break. I was supposed to experience one last Mifflin Street Block Party. I was supposed to perform a final time for my semi-annual dance show. I was supposed to say a proper farewell to my fellow Her Campus Wisconsin ladies that I was so fortunate to lead this year. I was supposed to plan how my roommates, best friends and I would spend our final moments together before we would move onto the next phases of our lives. Even more, I was supposed to graduate in May with my closest friends next to me, singing Varsity one last time as an undergraduate, in Camp Randall Stadium.
These were all things I had been looking forward to since my freshman year of college when I was living in Witte Hall — long before it was pretty. However, that is not how this spring semester will play out.
When the initial email about UW closing its doors for three weeks was released, I was in disbelief. I was heartbroken that a few weeks of my senior year would not be in person, so when I received the email that classes were suspended for the rest of the semester, the feeling was unimaginable. I said goodbye in-person to the people who were still on campus, and then I too went home. I now am back at home living with my parents, have kind of adjusted to the transition of my internships and classes being online, and have accepted that the new norm for seeing my friends on a Thursday night consists of Facetime calls and Zoom meetings.
The sad reality of COVID-19 is that it has taken away something from everyone. No matter your age or where you are located in the world, we were all looking forward to something, we all had plans, and all of those plans have either been canceled, changed or are now on hold.
While my reality of what senior year holds this semester has changed, I will always treasure the memories that have been made and the experiences I had. I am forever proud to be Badger, and that is something I will hold onto long after I graduate.