Spring is a time of getting rid of the old, and starting over with something new. Unfortunately for my roommate and I, as the weather started warming up we found ourselves moving into a new dorm all the way across campus from the one we originally planned to live in for the semester. This wasn’t really our choice– Residence Life asked that some of the students living in communal dorms move into suites in order to prevent large sums of people from going into quarantine every time someone who uses the communal bathroom tests positive. We volunteered because we had been in quarantine once and had no desire to return, but it didn’t really feel like it was our choice to go.
I understand why they asked us to do this, but it was still a drag to leave the best college dorm I’ve ever lived in. Jasper Hall was and still is home to me; I love the teal doors and the vintage-y feel of the rooms. We had a lot of space and could hear the laughter of students walking back to campus from late night deli runs. Plus, the building is centrally located on campus, so it never took me more than five minutes to walk to class. I didn’t even mind the communal showers, even during a pandemic– my waterproof mask did me well.
In the midst of midterms and dealing with the burnout that comes with not having a spring break, we definitely did not want to lug heavy bins with all of our stuff in them up the hill to move into a dorm we didn’t really want to live in. However, I’m finding ways to be grateful, which I think is a really important part of growing through a rough time.
I’m grateful that I’m conveniently next door to friends and that RA Matt was so welcoming. I’m grateful for the fact that right after our move, both my roommate and I were able to get our first dose of the Moderna vaccine. I’m grateful for my Lotus team for being so understanding as I transitioned from in-person learning to quarantine and then back to in-person, but in a different building. I’m grateful for my friends, my professors and my boss who have supported me and eased my anxieties about the rest of the semester. I have so many things to be grateful for, and it feels like a waste to not acknowledge them despite how difficult my life has been.
It would be so easy to be angry at Residence Life for not anticipating the issues we’ve seen occur in Jasper due to COVID, but that would just make me bitter. Instead, I am choosing to reflect on how fortunate I am instead because I know that one day, we’ll take our masks off and go to classes in-person again and when that day comes, I want to be a better version of myself.
yours truly,
jilleen
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