It's been almost a year since our lives were rattled and we were sent home from college to our childhood bedrooms. Those first couple of months felt like a weird dream, actually a nightmare than real life. The days were full of classes that felt optional, brightly colored childhood bedroom walls in the backgrounds of zooms, washing bags of chips, and whipped coffee. A year later, this pandemic has gotten old. By old, I mean older than the unworn foundation sitting in your makeup bag that hasn't been worn since last March.

When I came back to campus in late August, I didn't know what to expect. I didn't really expect anything too great but also didn't expect anything too terrible. The one thing I realized? It's insanely different. I think it's a stretch to call this college. I will put it out there that I do go to a small school in New York City, a city where cases are rising and the pandemic is still being taken seriously. I am very lucky to be in a place full of educated, conscientious people, and not a school full of selfish idiots who forgot the pandemic is a thing, ahem any SEC school.

Believe me, I know zoom classes are tiring and boring, and not having a normal social life is draining, but there is some good. You just have to find it. If you can't find the good there is no point in being here. It's hard, sometimes painful, but necessary. Sure, we all have our bad days where you and your roommate lie in your beds questioning your existence and seeing your twenties slip away, but overall you have to stay positive. It's important to see the good. Personally, I became extremely close with an entirely new group of people that I was friends with. Being forced to hang out with the same people day after day will force you to grow new stronger friendships, and show you which friendships weren't made to last. The days will soon come when it's 3 a.m. at a bar with your friends talking to random people and you're complaining that you wish you were in line for pizza or asleep. For now, we just have to wear a mask and hope that those days will soon come again.

Some of the positives that come with college, even in a pandemic:

- Getting to wake up 10 minutes before your class

- Texting your friends in a zoom class that you're both in and being forced to turn your camera off because you're laughing so hard

- Getting to see the cute boys in your building, even if for a moment in the Starbucks line

- Not feeling like you got run down by a bus every Saturday morning

-Wearing pajamas to class

-Appreciating the little things like movies with your friends more

Even though going to college during covid is awful, there are some positives. Embracing these positives make each and every day better. If all else fails, just think about how you're not eating dinner with your parents every single night for 4 months straight.