That’s precisely my reaction every time I see I’ve gotten a new email from good old Kevin telling me I have an extra week of Spring break, then that I can’t come back to campus for a bit, then that I have a week to pack up and move out. So much has happened in the past 3 weeks (!!) that it feels like I haven’t been back on campus for several months. It’s also my reaction watching my biochem lecture videos while trying to decipher what exactly IS going on in the electron transport chain. Nevertheless, COVID-19 has caused undue amounts of stress, irritation, and heartbreak over the past few weeks, for both me and millions of people around the world. While I have yet to be personally affected directly by COVID-19 (knock on wood), it has thrown a few wrenches in my plans for the rest of the semester and even the Summer.
The first thing that happened was the news that I would be continuing my semester via remote learning, which has had its ups and downs. On the positive, I no longer have a live 9:05am class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, so I can sleep in to my heart’s desire (but not past 11:15, not really an issue usually). However, despite the relief of being able to get adequate sleep, I now have to traverse the odd and complex world of technology, at which I have the abilities of a man born in 1903. It’s also a LOT harder to motivate myself to do work. Since I don’t have a desk in my room/house to do work at in a quiet spot, I’m limited to working from my bed, which lacks the atmosphere of feeling like I should be doing actual work. Not only that, but it feels as though the workload should have decreased (illogical thought, I know, but I can’t help the feeling), but alas, that is not the case. I’ve just been trying to keep myself focused to knock out as much work as I can early in the day so I can have time to spend with family and friends later in the evening.
This next bit is what hit me the hardest: my Summer study abroad program in Sydney got cancelled.
I was extremely excited to travel to Sydney this Summer to study neuropharmacology, something I’m incredibly interested in that I would like to pursue further as a career. This program had excursions to discuss the unique flora and fauna in Australia and how they can be used as medications to treat neurological problems. But then came that fateful email that so rudely ripped Australia and the $50 non-refundable application fee right out of my hands. This cancellation, while a cause of despair, does have an upside, as it allows me to take Summer classes that I need at UNC. In order to graduate next May, I have to take biophysical chemistry (ew) this Fall since it’s (for some idiotic reason) only offered in the Fall. Its prerequisites are MATH 232 and PHYS 115, both of which I vehemently didn’t want to take and put off until it was stressfully late. So now I’m going to be taking these classes this Summer on their own instead of paired with the neuropharmacology course in Australia.
As with any stressful situation, I’ve had to handle quarantine and social distancing. This has involved 3 things: cooking (not as much as I’d like or what I’d like due to shortages and picky family members), video games (just bought Yoshi’s Crafted World and have been obsessed, holding off on getting the new Animal Crossing until my workload chills out and I can safely devote my entire life to Tom Nook and Isabelle), and blasting the soundtrack to A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder on repeat, and lamenting at how bad I am at singing along. I’ve also started getting into anime, something I’ve wanted to try out for a while now. I started out with the show Vinland Saga, a historical drama set in the age of Vikings that seems to follow historical events. I highly recommend if it sounds like your thing, watchable on Amazon Prime Video.
So my quarantine has overall been uneventful. My family and I are taking all the precautions we can to prevent any of us getting COVID, and hopefully it continues to work out. For anyone who isn’t quite on board with all the social distancing orders going out, please remember this is about more than just you, this can seriously affect people in at-risk groups like the elderly and immunocompromised, and I’m sure you want this to go away as fast as possible. In order to get this thing under control, everyone just needs to limit their movement in public places as much as possible in order to flatten the curve and prevent the hospitals from being overwhelmed, leading to more unnecessary deaths.
Microbiology with Eric 