The second week for me at Carolina was a complete roller coaster. The weekend before, my good friend’s suitemate tested positive for COVID-19. My entire suite had contact with him, so now we were all at risk. One of my suitemates moved out, and we were scrambling to find a place to live. The announcement of the cancellation of in-person class had not been made yet, but we knew we needed to leave campus housing. This event set the tone for the rest of the week.
School did not help with the general stress. After I finished my Monday classes my mind was scrambled. It was difficult to concentrate on my course load when I did not know where I was living once we get kicked out of campus housing. My homework was piling up but instead I spent a majority of my time looking at apartment listings and calling leasing offices. The virus managed to be the only thing on my mind for days. This was the first real week of school for me, yet I could barely concentrate. Even with all the stress and lack of motivation, I was able to still have important takeovers from the week.
On Tuesday I began my day with my first-year seminar. I have just enough time in-between my seminar and my English 105 section to grab lunch and get started on some work. I believe I was looking over my Econ101 notes as I had an important forum post due that night. During English we tuned in on a presentation done by a Librarian who works at the undergraduate library. Her presentation was very beneficial to me, as I did not realize the sheer amount of resources the university made available to us. That session was also nice since it gave me a mental break. With all the stress occurring due to the coronavirus it was pleasant to have a session where all I had to do was pay attention and listen to all the great opportunities my school has for me. After that session, I spent the rest of my night working on my Feeder 1.1 rough draft. It was a difficult assignment for me simply because of formatting. I struggled aligning my structure with what I believed was expected, so I spent a large part of Tuesday night and Wednesday evening working on it.
My English section on Thursday was an incredibly beneficial section. One of my peers read over my Feeder 1.1 rough draft and gave some very helpful feedback. I also edited his piece. I spent the reminder of my week working through assignments and figuring out my housing plans. Thursday night I received my lease and started planning out the moving process. Outside of the classroom and my obligations, I spent a good deal of this week with my roommate as he is moving back home to Chicago.
Reflecting on the past week, I can accurately sum it up in one word: stress. This past week was some of the most stress I have ever felt in my life. The combination of my first real week of college and the ongoing terror that is COVID-19 created an environment where I was never relaxed. In reality, this past week has prepared me for what’s to come, as I do not believe it can get much crazier than this.
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