Now that my penultimate semester of college is about to end, I have found myself thinking about how I imagined my senior year going a year ago. I thought I would be hanging out with my friends as much as possible and creating great memories that I would look back on in the future.

I guess I was partially right because the memories of 2020 will definitely stick with me.

We have now been dealing with the pandemic for almost eight months and it almost sounds fake when I say that out loud. I am constantly losing track of what day it is and I struggle to maintain a positive attitude. When I look at my social media and see countless people going out maskless in huge groups of people as if nothing were happening, it makes me feel like I have lost my mind. And for a second, it starts getting to me and I ask myself, am I overreacting?

Then I snap back to reality and assure myself no, I'm not.

The United States is experiencing another spike in COVID-19 cases. We are now averaging almost 48,000 new cases every day, which is the highest we have seen since mid-August. I feel that part of this is due to the fact that many people have decided that the pandemic is over because they are bored with dealing with it. In Florida, all COVID-19-related business restrictions were lifted at the end of September. People all over the state have been rushing to clubs and restaurants to celebrate the end of the pandemic. I guess I missed the memo! I must have been too busy reading that Florida has had nearly 3,000 new confirmed cases in one day. I'm sure it's completely unrelated to Ron DeSantis' decision to enter phase three of reopening.

Everyone seems to think that those of us that are still taking coronavirus seriously are a bunch of buzzkills, especially when trying to convince young people to stay inside.

I'm sorry I'm trying to spoil your Saturday night club plans, I would just like for this virus to stop spreading and causing so many deaths. Is your night out really so important that you're willing to throw caution to the wind and potentially infect an immunocompromised person? I know how boring and frustrating it is to be stuck inside without seeing your friends, but this is a sacrifice we should all be willing to make in order to keep our communities healthy.

Having an individualistic attitude will get us nowhere. We are still in month eight of the pandemic because so many people care more about their personal enjoyment than the wellbeing of those around them.

This is not the way I thought I would spend my senior year. I would like nothing more than to be able to go out with my friends again like we used to, but that isn't possible right now. The pandemic has not been fair to anyone and we have all been struggling because of it.

I understand the desire to go back to some sense of normalcy, but please, think of all of the people you could potentially harm by deciding to go out maskless with your friends.