A month and a half ago I did not expect to be sitting at home at the beginning of April trying to complete the semester. But, with the outbreak of COVID-19, I find myself turning in all of my assignments online like millions of other college students across the world. Before now, I've never had a semester with an online course. I turned in a majority of my assignments through Canvas, but I still went to classes five times a week on campus. Now that I'm doing everything online and in a completely different state, I miss the University of Kentucky more than ever.
I miss simple things like having to pull out my ID card to eat, print papers off at William T. Young Library, and my dorm room. I miss being able to meet up with friends in the bookstore, and at Starbucks where we planned to sit for hours to study, but barely got any work done because we missed each other so much. I never thought I'd miss the crowds in the student center and dining halls, or having to walk from one side of campus to the other to make it to class on time. But I truly miss all of the seemingly minute details of my college life in Lexington. So many of those things make up the normalcy of college life for me.
One of the hardest things about being away from campus has been being away from friends. Being an out-of-state student, I'm used to spending the summers away from them, not the semester. Although I'm at home, I've gotten accustomed to going back to Lexington to see them for different events throughout the summer. Now, I'm not that sure I'll be able to see any of them in person again until August. I'm grateful for Facetime, Netflix Parties, and phone calls, but I really miss being able to drive to their apartments and go places together.
As I push through finishing the end of the semester, I look forward to the fall semester. I look forward to being able to see the leaves change colors on campus. I'm excited about football season and being inside of Kroger Field's walls. I'm excited for incoming freshmen who had the last few weeks of their senior years ripped away from them. I'm happy that I still have the opportunity to call the University of Kentucky home. When I return, I won't take anything I experience at school for granted. Because you never know how soon you'll have to say goodbye.
