Fellow Aggies, this is a challenging time for the entire world, and no one, not even our cult, is safe from the ramifications of the coronavirus. First and foremost, I wish the best for the health of everyone and our loved ones. Not only is this virus affecting our health, it has completely disrupted our day to day lives. With the world on shutdown, we are at a standstill. Being stuck in a state of limbo can be quite existential. Without a defined structure, many of us can fall into a pit of confusion and aimless wandering. I am writing on how the past few weeks have personally affected me and the strategies I am hoping to employ to ride out the indefinite future.
As students, we have always lived in an era of timelines. Many of us had planners filled out for the next three months ahead. We are a generation who live and die by being organized because that is how we are the most efficient. Though we cannot erase our planners written in ink, we have a responsibility to ourselves to adjust. This sudden alteration has wreaked havoc on my mental well being. In the past few weeks, I have been cognizantly AWOL. I missed multiple assignments, did not reply to emails from my bosses and instead chose to stare at a wall. In my time spent in my Chamber of Reflection, shoutout Marc Demarco, I have understood a bit about how my brain works and what it needs to function.
School has been tough. I am a graduating senior who is taking only nine hours, and motivation has been resilient to muster. Since my grades were already on the low end to begin with, I am highly considering the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading option. Though it gives more breathing room, I still need to pass, and to do so I am shifting my drive elsewhere. I am trying to change my mindset about school work. It can be hard to truly learn the material in college. As students, we have many other obligations which make it hard to dedicate hours to read the textbook and other supplementary materials to understand. Now that our schedules have generally opened up, one focus of mine is to take time to try and understand the content that instructors are presenting to me, for no reason other than the passion of learning.
Speaking of which, reading has been paramount to my mental health. In this quarantine, I often feel creative. There is not much stimulation to be drawn from my room or the outside world as the dominating presence is the coronavirus. As a manner of escaping, I have been getting lost in my books. Drawing inspiration of the characters and authors has allowed my mind to roam far outside my room and circumstance.
Besides schoolwork or endless job applications, I have been finding time to work on impromptu projects around the house. My present masterpiece is creating a ping pong table out of the materials I have available at home. So far, I have painted the wooden boards and set up a makeshift net. Though rudimentary, it has been a success so far, and I am already excited to spend the next few weeks fine-tuning the design.
I am a ball of energy, and being restricted physically and emotionally has affected my body. I tend to play many sports to activate my competitive spirit while also getting a good sweat in. Not many options for that these days, but exercising is vital. Many students have built a habit of using a gym or our Recreation Center to work out, but there are other options. I have been doing calisthenics, which mainly revolve around using body weight for strength training. There are countless guides on the internet that allow you to stay active where you are. Using only your body to better itself is a tangible take on “iron sharpening iron.” Deep.
Though many students have chosen to remain on campus, a sizable portion of students has had to pause independence to return home unexpectedly. For a person like me, this has taken a toll on my ability to feel free and operate how I would normally. Cabin fever is very real and personal space is hard to come by. I have found it to be imperative to establish clear boundaries. This separation allows you to be comfortable in the area that you occupy and at liberty to pursue whatever you wish in this time, without judgment or criticism.
Lastly, I have had to make a sincere effort to reconstruct my life not to have time-binding me. The daily hustle has somewhat evaporated overnight and finding new ways to orient myself has been paramount. I am framing productivity more on my actions and the impact they hold. These are lessons I hope to carry me long after this pandemic passes. Stay safe and healthy Ags. See you all soon.