Adjusting to COVID-19 college life

My whole world was turned upside-down in mid-March as I heard those three words, “shelter in place,” for the first time.

What we thought was an epidemic quickly turned into a worldwide pandemic. As a second-semester senior, I wasn’t too bothered because at that time it was a quick twoweek break from school and I thought we’d be back shortly.

Oh boy, were we wrong. Everyone was wrong.

As we tracked the COVID-19 case numbers through March and into April, the idea I would be returning to high school was gone. It was clear that I wouldn’t be walking across the stage as a high school senior.

Although it’s easy to be sad and think of the missed opportunities and experiences, that really won’t help anything now. As a community and a society, we’re playing the cards we’ve been dealt and trying to make the best of an unfortunate situation.

I’ve always considered myself a glass half-full type of guy, and this pandemic has really tested that mentality.

I’ve struggled with a multitude of problems while being confined to my house. For instance there’s no separation now between school and home. This is an obvious problem we’ve all faced and I now realize how important it really is.

Prior to COVID-19, my high school would allot its students a lot of time to deal with classwork during school hours through study hall periods. I was the type of person who would take advantage of these opportunities and try to finish my work before I got home. These practices created a strong line between school and home.

My mind would switch between these two modes during my drive to and from school. When the shelter-in-place world first started, I was the least productive person you’ve ever seen. I had the attention span of a goldfish, which is roughly nine seconds.

This lack of focus and drive landed me in a world of hurt. I was turning my half-ass assignments in the day they were due and was just happy to have finished them by that point. I would always tell myself that

I’d do better on the next assignment when in reality I knew I wasn’t going to do better or try any harder.

During the summer between high school and college, I told myself that those habits were not going to fly and I needed to make some serious changes if I was going to pass my classes. I basically tried to make my room as uncomfortable as possible — like a school environment.

One of the first things to go was my sitting desk. I make a standing desk to encourage myself to keep my desk for schoolwork only, because no one wants to watch YouTube or Netflix standing. That’s just weird.

After maybe two months into school, I started to equate my bedroom with schoolwork. This was my new division of school and leisure.

My bedroom is for schoolwork, and since I don’t have a sitting desk, I no longer watch TV in my room. This created a more defined line between the two.

I have to admit, when I do get a little lazy and try to do some work on the couch, it never goes well and I end up wasting countless hours watching YouTube. If I hadn’t rearranged my room and created a more conducive learning environment, who knows where I’d be today.

I’ve struggled with a multitude of problems while being confined to my house. Oor instance there’s no separation now between school and home. This is an obvious problem we’ve all faced and I now realize how important it really is.