Hey freshie me,
So, the world shut down, huh? As you sit in your bean bag chair amongst your newly redecorated room, take a breath. The road ahead may not consist only of rainbows and butterflies, but you will experience some magical journeys, late nights on the beach and tears after taking your first real college exam this year.
I know how you long to visit your family in the City of Angels. After five years of being separated by distance, you would die to see layout of their apartments and meet their cats and dogs for the first time.
Hold onto hope (and your money). You’ll make it there soon! But I don’t want to give too much away.
Let’s talk about your present situation. You possess many dreams of traveling and big city living. I see the irony clear as day. The second you begin to experience freedom and adulthood at 18, you find it stripped away from you. “Stay home to prevent the spread of disease.” The words come straight from a dystopian novel, broadcasted on every news channel and in every major magazine. The terrifying reality that an unfamiliar disease will continue spreading indefinitely haunts you. Why? Because you value control, and right now any sense of order remains completely extinguished.
Your senior trip to France and Barcelona cancelled in the blink of an eye. Senior prom, graduation, everything completely gone.
Yes, you feel saddened by everything you lost. But you don’t feel complete desperation, do you? You know that things will get better and you find happiness in the little things. The walks to the supermarket with mom. Your weekly hangouts with your best friend who, by the way, stays home from college for the whole year. Your tiny yappy puppy who refuses to leave you alone, squeaking her tiny toys and breaking the silence. Mom’s delicious dinners and dad’s stupid jokes that provoke laughter under your breath.
As humans, we do most anything to better our circumstances. We create art, delve into our hobbies, and make the best of hopeless situations.
Now you find yourself entering your first year of college. Diving headfirst into the unknown, without being able to meet your peers or professors face to face. I know how you feel. I know that you thrive off personal connection, communication. Though everything feels uncertain, know that your ambition and positivity will carry you through. Your professors and peers constantly check in, making sure that zoom fatigue doesn’t overtake your mental health. They care about your wellbeing and you care about theirs.
I’m sure you find yourself wondering how our freshman year plays out. I remember being in your footsteps, wondering if I would even make friends or enjoy being home for college. Though you may not realize now, you certainly made the right decision with St. John’s Staten Island. Like Cinderella, the shoe simply fit. Especially after living through a pandemic, we needed the support system our family provided at home. Besides, what’s better than blasting music at 2am without being reprimanded by roommates? As far as the “making friends” thing goes, don’t feel too concerned. Though you grow accustomed to speaking pictures on a computer screen, you somehow manage to forge close connections with your peers and even join a sorority! Yes, the decision you never thought you’d make.
I know your next big question. The same one lingering in the back of our minds, the source of all our anxiety.
“What profession will you pursue when you get older?”: the age-old question that causes all college students to shake in their boots. The first step? Picking a major. You, Nicole, may characterize yourself as an “undecided” student, but you know good and well that you connect with English on a heightened level. You always possessed a “knack” for the subject, loving to analyze texts and listen to stories. I mean, who wouldn’t want to engross themselves in a spicy book all day? Though you feel afraid of the stigmatism surrounding the “English major,” you can’t ignore your inherent passion.
The story doesn’t end there! Yeah, one major might seem cool, but two? Double the fun! And double the mental breakdowns. Knowing full and well that we always bite off more than we can chew, you saw that coming. Our desire to communicate and connect with others paired with our weird hyper-obsessions with random TV shows and celebrities made us the perfect candidate for the communication arts major! Plus, as a writer, the comm degree creates an “in” with journalism and marketing related careers, leaving you with lots of wiggle room. As far as our future career? That remains quite the mystery. Why not take a trip to a fortune teller and ask them some questions? Then relay the answers back to me so I find some direction. Please.
All jokes aside, double majoring in English and Communications seemed like a no brainer and, thanks to the amazing support from my advisor, I am right on track to graduate right on time. I love my classes as they challenge me consider new perspectives, both old and new.
Let’s get juicy and talk advice.
College classes tend to be quite overwhelming, especially in the online format. My first piece of guidance—don’t buy the textbooks super far in advance. Some professors choose not to use them and you’ll waste $200 on a five-pound textbook that will sit in the corner of your room for four months. If you couldn’t already tell, I learned the hard way.
A second pointer—create a routine for your mental health. Sure, you might possess workout routines and homework schedules, but starting a routine which promotes your mental wellbeing will help you the most in the long run. Especially when attending school completely online, one mentally exhausts themselves rather quickly. To keep from Zoom fatigue, go on walks and try to escape computer-land now and then. Yoga and exercise really helped me out, being that one hour a day where I could worry about nothing but being in touch with myself. Meditation, journaling, coloring, reading a book; these examples of healing exercises will help you to get in a better headspace and complete your work with ease.
And thirdly: don’t feel afraid to reach out to those around you. Your peers experience the same stress and fears that you do, perhaps even amplified versions of yours. Especially in the online format, assume that everyone feels nervous to reach out. Create those class group chats and make connections with your professors, even if you email them once or twice to formally introduce yourself.
And now, the question you spent the past year pondering.
I’m sure you find yourself wondering if the world will ever open again. If life will ever look the same again. My answer—yes-ish? A new variant of COVID graces the streets now, and no, I’m not talking about a Loki variant. (You’ll get that reference soon enough). Restaurants, movies and concerts made their comeback in the spring, and the mask restriction lifted for a hot minute too. After a month, unfortunately, we found ourselves masked up again just in time for school.
If you worry that boredom will again strike, don’t fret too much. Your three jobs keep you pretty preoccupied during winter break and you keep busy during the semester with extra-curriculars and classes. You even opt to take two in-person classes in the spring, finally getting to visit your campus in person! You’ll finally begin to feel like a real college student, straying from the strange post high school senior phase.
As for the summer? Prepare for the time of your life. As the world slowly works to reopen, people jump at any opportunity to take vacations and spontaneously plan trips. Adopting a similar mindset, I traveled quite a bit this summer with my family and friends and consider the summer of 2021 the best one yet. Even with the pandemic lurking around every corner, we did our best to safely enjoy our lives to the fullest.
The summer also brought about a profound appreciation of the blessings in my life throughout these pandemic times.
During the roughest parts of quarantine, I possessed a family to turn to. Fortunately, we kept a steady income and put food on the table every night. This summer, I finally met some close friends from Queens in person for the first time. I began to further appreciate my dog’s bark, my mom’s face, my room’s shape, the trees on my block and all the little things that kept me from going completely stir crazy. I felt beyond grateful to go to the beach, take a road trip, travel across the country and out of the country. So many opportunities followed the pandemic, along with new and improved mindsets from months of introspection. I came out seeing the world in a new and unique light, admiring the little aspects of my life I never cared to notice before. After finally being granted the go-ahead to live my life outside of my room, I leaped back into the real world.
So, yes. The world might seem isolated now. You might feel like the pandemic will never end—that life will never go back to “normal.” The answer? The old sense of normalcy may never return, but the “new normal” feels more rewarding. I appreciate life more than I ever did, and that’s a blessing.
But for now, keep living your life. Attend class, keep your spirits up and do your homework. Continue watching those Friends re-runs at every chance you get. While you have the time, why not re-watch The Office too! Future you thanks you. You might not get this much free time ever again, so embrace and enjoy your alone time.
And as for that magical trip? The one you longed to take since you were little. Let’s just say, keep saving that money. Dreams really do come true.
With love and kindness,
Sophomore you
