To think that I will be packing up my dorm room in just three weeks blows my mind. I feel as though I just decorated it. When I arrived on campus, I cried almost every day. I did not like being so far away from home. But now, thinking about leaving my crappy, unrenovated dorm room is the reason that makes me cry. Although my entire freshman year did not go as planned and I came later than expected, I would not change it for the world. I am sure most of you are reading this and thinking “oh, please!” I do think that this year sucked…MISERABLY, but I also believe that every single thing happens for a reason. Every person you come in contact with, every random dog you see in the park, every stranger that smiles at you, and every place you go.
The COVID-19 Pandemic taught me lessons that will stay with me for the rest of my life, and were brought upon me in the most miserable and strangest ways. Having an extra semester at home showed me how important my family really was to me. It brought me and all my sibling and parents unimaginably closer. I have a newly found appreciation for the spring, fall, summer, and winter. I realized that I do not have to rely on in-person contact to check and grow closer with my friends and family. Because I lost the end of my senior year and the first half of my freshman year at Penn State, I held some sort of resentment toward college. I know it doesn’t really make sense, but I just needed something to take my anger out on and blame for the disappointment I was feeling. But even a semester taken from a pandemic cannot stop the students, myself included, from seeing the glory Penn State University has.
As the weather gets warmer and I meet more of the wonderful people up here, I begin to appreciate the school in a unique way, as it is my first experience back into society after being quarantined for so long. Slowly gaining back things like being able to work out in a gym and live with a person outside of my family makes me appreciate these privileges deeper. I am more grateful for these little things that surround our lives, and I think a lot of people feel this same way. Having these realizations this week made me very joyful and has led me to think of other ways I can feel this joy when things don’t go my way.