My experience going to university during the outbreak of Covid
Covid impractically broke out prior to my first year as an undergraduate at Caltech, one of the hardest universities in the world. Looking back on my experience at university, I realize the pandemic had greatly changed the way I was living life and live life now – mostly in negative ways.
I became way more addicted to electronics and the internet, and noticed my peers were also becoming more addicted to the online world as well. My attention span seeming to be diminishing, and focusing on my classwork became more and more difficult. With classes being held online for over a year, there was no real academic environment to learn in and paying attention in class almost felt optional/unnecessary. My creativity and curiosity to learn about random things and start projects seemed to have disappeared. Socially, I felt more secluded and isolated. Lastly, I felt more anxious and stressed.
Now, as the epidemic is coming to an end I realized that I gained many bad habits during my first few years at university. I wasn’t taking school as seriously as I was prior to Covid, and I was wasting too much time on social media. These habits were quite embarrassing to admit, and I wasn’t sure if anyone else related with me – so I kept these problems to myself. Luckily, I realized I needed to change, and I wanted to succeed in school, so I found a few ways to refine myself and break these habits. So, in case anyone here relates, here are some ways you can bounce back!
Bounce Back!
- Be present. Don’t take social media too seriously, there’s really no need to be on your phone for more than an hour a day. Now that we aren’t locked inside, you can delete TikTok and enjoy the real world! Character develops from your own experiences, not watching others. Seriously, delete TikTok and use Instagram wisely.
- Read books. Instead of picking up your phone to mindlessly scroll on an app, pick up a book instead. It’s a lot more interesting and allows you to actively learn.
- Active Lifestyle. Try to exercise every/every other day. If you are taking care of your physical health, you will be inclined to take care of you mental and intellectual health as well. If you really really hate working out that’s fine. Just make sure you have an active lifestyle: you have stuff to do everyday and places to be.
- Socialize. People are motivating. If you lock yourself in your apartment for a week without interacting with anyone, your not going to feel motivated to look good, eat good, or do anything. Force yourself to hang out with people and develop a community. No matter how much you don’t want to do it – invest time into building a community wherever you are. It pays off. With a community, you will never feel alone and you will always have someone to push you up when you’re feeling low.
- Go to all your classes/lectures and interact with professors/ other students. This is super important at university. It is important to build and academic community in order to thrive in school, as you will have support with assignments. Its also important to build an academic community for your future, because it will allow you to be in the loop with what companies people are working at, and what opportunities exist in the world for you!
- Stay creative. Try new recipes every week, build something, go on an adventure! Seriously, trying new things keeps you alert and excited and can lead to something bigger.
I hope this post was helpful:) University is already difficult, but experiencing it through the pandemic posed another level of difficulty. I feel that my generation, and generations below me are all developing some bad habits from the rise of the internet and from the repercussions of Covid. If you are struggling with this, I really think these tips will serve you well!
Hints to Life 