Sad and missing Augie

Like many other colleges across the nation, my school, Augustana College, has switched to online classes. When I read that email, that was the first time I cried.

You see, unlike most colleges, Augustana had given us an abrupt early spring break. We went on break one week prior to when we were supposed to and were told to expect to return in two weeks. Since it was so unexpected, a lot of my friends went home on Friday and I left that Saturday morning. While I am eternally grateful for the few goodbyes I was able to have... there are so many that I missed.

Being ripped away from the place I call home, from all of my friends, my sisters, my co-workers, my life, is not easy. So yeah, I cried. The last thing I wanted to do was go online.

While not all of my friends are international, I am friends with a lot of international students. Some of them are planning on returning to their home countries as soon as the borders open. They don't know if they will be able to come back to Augie. It breaks my heart to think that I may never see some of the best people in my life again.

---

The next email we received told us we could sign up for time slots to move out. Once again, I cried. That just made it so real. That it's really over. No more getting italian sodas at the brew to surprise my friends. No more living on the Phi Rho floor with my sorority sisters. No more pantsless dance parties with my teammates. No more memories to be made for sophomore year. It's just over.

I'm sad for my senior sisters. The beautiful, empowering, women I look up to everyday won't be there when we return in the fall. So many lasts gone, no more Phi Rho birthday, no formal, no parent's brunch, or Mom's weekend.

I'm sad for every new member in greek life. No one got to finish their pledging no matter what frat or sorority they joined. This means years of traditions, songs, history, moments they'll never get to experience like the rest of us have.

---

Augustana has been my home since my very first day on campus. Week 0, Day 1. I have formed bonds with my friends, sorority sisters, teammates, professors and I miss them. It is crazy to think that I'm not able to just go down the hall to hangout with friends or just borrow something.

Being at home feels unusual. Most of you know after I graduated high school, we moved that summer and then I left for college. Since I spent this past summer working and living on campus, this will be the longest time I have actually spent at the new place since moving here.

It doesn't feel like home because Augustana was my home. Augustana is my home. I dread the next time I go back because moving out of my perfect little dorm makes me sad. Our time was cut short and there is nothing we can do about it.

---

Augustana is infamous for being a small liberal arts college. They have small class sizes and focus on interactive, hands on learning. As a Multimedia Journalism Mass Communication and Communication Studies double major, it will be difficult to proceed. We used equipment to interview people in my class like tripods and cameras that I do not have at home. We used programs on the computers provided to edit our audio and video. We went out and did this active learning during our class and it's not like I can do that online.

This is going to be a difficult change for not just us students, but our professors as well. So I want to say thank you. Thank you professors for adapting and doing everything you can to continue to help us learn. Thank you faculty for working hard to make sure this transition runs as smoothly as possible for us students. No one asked for this but everyone has to cope with it.

---

I was so fortunate to be at Augie. Fortunate to learn and grow. Fortunate to have met all of the amazing people in my life. But I am still fortunate. Fortunate that I have my family that I can return home to. I do not take my life for granted and I will not. I will continue to be thankful for all of the blessings that have and will continue to come into my life.

As quarantine goes on, we are all getting a little crazed. This is the most useless and unmotivated I've ever felt. It's crazy to go from our insane college schedules to having absolutely nothing that we have to do.

Normally I am the positive friend. However, I have been failing at that recently because it's been a little hard for me to stay positive lately. But, as my more positive friends have reminded me, I should start looking at this as an opportunity for self improvement and growth. We have never had this much time on our hands before. We have time to relax, and time to grow.

"We only improve as a society when we are torn down and forced to be better. Everyone should take the extra time in quarantine to improve your own life and in turn improve those around you." -Bobby Christel

So here is a list of things I've been doing. Some things are self-improvements and some are for my mental health or just for fun.

Facetiming Friends

Baking

Reading

Working Out

Smashbooking/Scrapbooking

Spending time with my family

Blogging

Sleeping

Facemasks

Listening to music

Meditating

Imessage Games

This video is a compilation of pictures and videos from some great nights! Thank you for the memories Augie. Special thank you to all my friends for never failing to make me smile and laugh, for always dancing with me, and for never letting me miss bang bang chicken day in the CSL. Until next year

RIP Sophomore Year 2020