We all waited through last year with agony, praying things would become “normal” again. We craved in-person classes, sports practices, club meetings, and a more vibrant social life (one that included more than just sitting with one other masked friend in our dorms).
This year we got it. We got our in-person classes, our weekly club meetings, our in-person tests, our intramurals, and our weekly parties and open bars. We should be thrilled right? It is all we have wanted for the past year and a half.
We are thrilled. But, personally, I’m stressed. As a freshman last year, I got used to my routine. I would roll out of bed at 9:55 for my 10 am, turn on my zoom, scroll through Tik Tok, and tune in to class. I could turn my camera off for club meetings if I felt drained. I could go to bed early, with no FOMO on a Saturday night. After all, what could I have been missing out on? But I yearned for normal. I wanted all the things I have now.
Normal is hard. It is an adjustment, and I think it is hitting sophomores even harder. We adjusted to college in the midst of a pandemic. But we dealt with it and left the year on our feet. But, when we returned this fall, campus was different. It was alive. Yes, it is far superior to what we knew as Wake Forest last year. But, it was still different. It was still a change and an adjustment. And changes and adjustments are hard, scary, and stressful.
Although I am grateful for the numerous new and exciting opportunities at Wake this year, and although without a shadow of a doubt, I am grateful for a vaccine and more knowledge on COVID, I still am stressed.
I feel overwhelmed. In-person tests have not been in my life since high school, which now feels like eons ago. Balancing clubs and homework and social life was basically a non-factor my freshman year. Now I have to figure out how to allocate my time to maximize what I can do in a day.
I know I am not alone in this feeling. I feel grateful and happy for these opportunities, but I feel that I am desperately trying to navigate this new Wake in the best way I know how.