I’ve been waiting for this since March 2020. Why am I so anxious?

On August 30, 2021, I started the fall 2021 semester at my university. I was so excited. I’ve been thinking about syllabus week for months. I’m not complaining; this isn’t bad or going terribly compared to how I imagined. It’s just …

It feels weird.

All it took was a year and a half of online classes, roughly three semesters, and I feel like I can barely function. My social skills are completely shot, I’m constantly embarrassing myself, I blurt out the weirdest things, and I’m just confused. I know I’m not alone in this; there’s students all around the world that are experiencing the same thing. I just can’t help it, I feel awkward.

On my campus, we were required to be vaccinated. For extra safety, we are wearing masks. However, it still almost feels like the pandemic never happened.

I think a lot of college students don’t talk about how abrupt the transition of moving in is. I struggled with this my freshman year, and I feel like my pandemic-related inexperience has made me struggle with it again my junior year. I don’t mean to scare any high school seniors, but I want to be honest, and I mean it when I say: one second, you’re home; the next, you’re not. One night you’re in your bedroom like normal, and the next you’re just not. You’re somewhere completely new and foreign, and it’s difficult. (for some people, some people don’t have a hard time with this at all) (I envy you)

Like most young adults, of course I want to live on my own. Of course I don’t want to be under the same roof as my parents. It’s just hard being away from where I spent my entire life.

So yeah, after a year and a half of a pandemic, I’m a little nervous. Going back to normal is easier said than done. At least most of the world is going through the same thing, so I definitely can’t say that I’m alone.