On a Wednesday night in February, I saw snow for the first time at UT.
It's snowing outside! my friend from math had texted me, her message putting an immediate halt to our discussion over mathematical proofs and irrational numbers. I'd pushed myself up from the throw bed, padded over to the window, and drew back the curtain. Sure enough, snowflakes glinted beneath the saturated light of the streetlamps, tumbling to the sidewalks below. I grinned.
My roommate and I threw on our coats and flew down the stairs, eager to experience the snowfall for ourselves. Whitis Avenue was already teeming with students, some in pajamas, others just returning from their study groups at the library. Everyone craned their necks towards the sky, suspended in disbelief.
"Ya'll are so cute," our friend Zeidy said right after we'd dragged her out of bed. Maleni had fetched her Polaroid camera, and we were headed for the UT Tower to snap a few photos before the snow died down. My boyfriend was also forced to participate, his voice groggy upon answering the phone.
"Are you outside?" I asked. It sounded more demanding than curious.
"I'm in bed," he replied hesitantly. As if he already knew what I was asking of him. "I'll go get changed."
The courtyard in front of the UT tower was littered with people taking pictures to commemorate the snowfall. Someone blasted "Let it Snow" from a Bluetooth speaker. We all shout-sang the lyrics as midnight steadily approached. A little snow is all it takes to get everyone out of bed on a school night. Little did we know that the following month, students would be asked to leave.
Earlier this week, UT President Greg Fenves made an announcement asking all students to move out of the residence halls in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. I read the email after watching the news and was consequently disheartened for the rest of the night. My mom wrapped her arms around me in the kitchen and held me like she did when I was younger.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I knew how much you wanted to go back."
Though I complained about schoolwork and the occasional stench of weed in the dorms, I genuinely loved my first year living at UT. I'd fallen into a steady routine of attending classes and commuting to the Austin Public Library, of editing videos for The Daily Texan and playing pool with my friends on Fridays. Moving back home has made me realize how much I take these experiences for granted.
Now, I wake up in the mornings but stay in bed until noon. I read a few chapters of a book. Netflix asks me if I'm still watching. I'm finding it difficult to self-isolate myself when so much of my day-to-day life was dependent on social interaction. But it's what we all have to do in order to secure our personal health—and our eventual return to normalcy.
While this isn't how I expected my freshman year to proceed, I'm grateful to have experienced seven wonderful months on The Forty Acres. I am determined to fall into a steady routine of taking online classes and video chatting with my boyfriend, of writing blog posts and spending time with my family. Like the snowfall at UT, moments end just as soon as they begin. I've learned to hold on to them tightly.
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