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Driving my College life amid the Pandemic

Driving my College life amid the Pandemic

Life is a journey, as some people say. Along the road, it’s inevitable to encounter conflicts—you’ll get stuck amid the traffic, you might be in trouble, or probably you’ll be confused about which path you should take toward your destination.

Speaking of confusion, on the broad daylight of Friday, June 17, 2022, my family and I were headed to our Province somewhere in Pampanga for a family gathering with relatives. While traversing the road of an unfamiliar place, my uncle who drives the car was impatient due to traffic.

Hence, he decided to merely follow the car in front of us which goes in the other direction, neglecting the fact that he was slightly confused about the road. As a result, we instantly realized that he drove back to where we’d been through. With that, it took us a while to take a u-turn and bounce back to our track. 

And that occurrence could be compared to my college life amidst the pandemic.

Going back to my teenage self, I frequently hear from adults that college is hard. They say that if you were an academic achiever in high school, then college will make you contemplate that those are not enough to survive. 

In college, you must find ways how you’ll make it to Friday, and each day while battling with yourself, along the route you’ll meet someone you knew or possibly, a new friend. Believe me, it transpired to me in my freshman year in college. I met amazing people and be friends with them in the height of the pandemic—where everything could be done online. They were there when I needed someone to listen, they are my safe space. 

College life is already a roller coaster and worsen by the pandemic, and you must have friends who will bring you the courage to bounce back and keep going because the red light on this route will not take forever.

While keeping myself on track, there were days that I found myself being confused, and doubting myself if I was on the right path. In some instances, there were times that I lost track and saw myself chasing other people’s passageway which led me to lose. With that, I should remind myself that I needed to get up again. I must push myself to be courageous, collect the pieces of myself and keep my eye on the goal once more. If not, no one would do it for me and I would lose myself until I shatter into pieces.

College life is the beginning of being opened-eye to the realities. The road on this journey is not always good, there were cases that at night I silently cry because of the pressure, mistrust in myself, and family conflicts.

In fact, it’s arduous to study in this setup because just like others, I cannot even separate my student life from my responsibilities as a daughter.

One time, I asked one of my nephews who’s an incoming Senior High student.

“What learning setup do you prefer?” then he answered “Online class” because according to him, in this set up he attains higher grades.

Honestly, I felt sad upon hearing that from him but I remembered he has his own story that led him to say that. But if I was asked the same question, I would not choose this setup because just like others, it drains me.

This makes me question myself, why am I here? Why am I suffering from all these conflicts? This learning setup is harder than others think. This is not for everyone. This is not for the students who don’t have a stable internet connection, a good environment, and privileges. This is not also for me.

If we were going back to the story that I told you at the beginning, my college life has had ups and downs. I once compared myself to others and am still in a state of confusion in life. Also, if you were going to ask me what I have learned in this drive, it’s the—don’t be impatient, just trust the process and you have your own pace so don’t ever chase other’s path because once you did, you’ll lose yourself merely like what happened to us in our route on June 17.