As the Semester Reaches its End

As the

SEMESTER

Reaches Its End…

by Lily Sones

As we near the end of the Fall semester, it can be easy to get overwhelmed with what seems like a never-ending stream of homework, exams, presentations, and extracurricular obligations. Days flow into weeks, and soon, the semester will be over. While many of us—myself included—look forward to spending time at home with family and friends this winter break, it is essential that we acknowledge how fortunate we are to experience life on campus together and appreciate the moments we share with one another because we know what it means to be without it. Everyone’s education was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, no matter which state or country you call home. Unlike any other generation of students that came before us, we can recognize that the typical college experience is never guaranteed. We know what it means to sit in sweats all day watching Zoom lectures. We know the claustrophobia of hours in our rooms. We know the isolation. First-years and some sophomores are now experiencing campus for the first time. As a firstyear myself, I do not know what Barnard was like during the worst of the pandemic but I know that I am grateful to be here. Surprisingly, it was not classes or extracurriculars that I was missing the most, but the simple everyday encounters and spontaneity that distance learning stymies—a chat before class, walking with friends to lunch and getting boba tea together, hanging out in the Quad in the afternoon, talking to the dining hall staff, even the dreaded elevator conversation fills a social need that cannot easily be filled by a FaceTime call. Yet, this is not to say that being back in person does not have its challenges. As we transition back into our regular lives we must also reestablish the balance between our social life and our work in

this high-level academic setting. One Barnard first-year explained that distance learning acted as a safety net for mistakes and allowed them to learn on their own time. Now that they are back in a classroom, they find it hard to stick to a schedule and focus on studying although they never had trouble with it before the pandemic. As the semester reaches its end, we must find a balance between the stresses of returning to a somewhat normal college experience with an appreciation for the simple things around us that can be taken for granted. This upcoming semester, utilize our time with each other to your advantage. Try a new club on campus or go to one of the in-person seminars held at the Athena Center. Or, try to take a few moments every day to recount any and all the small things around you that we did not have during distance learning, even if it is just saying hello to Gloria in Hewitt or finally winning a seat in a Milstein green chair.

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