The week of midterms, I was stuck in the Life Science Library panicking over an essay. Located inside the Main Building directly beneath the bell tower, the historic space is known for its glossy wooden furniture, high-rise ceilings, and extensive collection of bio-science textbooks. Though I had no need for its scholastic resources, the place provided the perfect atmosphere for writing a final paper on a Thursday night.
I hoped to finish by eight o'clock. Ideally, I would grab dinner before the dining halls closed and continue working in my dorm room. But Mother Nature had different plans. I didn't check the weather app that day and paled upon hearing the first round of thunder. I had no raincoat, no warm clothes. I had an umbrella, which seemed rather futile against the raging wind outside. In short, I was stuck until further notice.
I messaged my roommate and my boyfriend of the situation and refused to dwell on it further. After all, my TA for this class was a brutal grader, and I was starting to lose morale. I needed to focus. Spike Lee's commentary on The Birth of a Nation proves the lasting impact of D.W. Griffith's blockbuster to be misconstrued in the eyes of film scholars...
Half an hour later, the sound of wet shoes on marble tile squelched in the distance. I brushed it off and kept writing. The footsteps grew louder. Geez, doesn't anybody wipe their feet anymore? I thought. Soon enough, a familiar someone was standing beside me.
"Hot chocolate?" my boyfriend asked, extending the warm drink to me with an even warmer smile. His clothes were soaked in rain. Later, we joked about how focused I was on my final paper. How—even though I heard his footsteps loud and clear—his sudden appearance was completely unexpected.
Like the thunderstorm and the impromptu hot-chocolate-run, there were a lot of unexpected twists and turns to my first year of college. For one, I never anticipated the country would shut down in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. I never thought I'd move back home and attend Zoom University. Most of all, I never thought I'd find myself in the midst of another storm. I thought I'd learned my lesson.
"Maybe this was a mistake," I murmured, watching my dad navigate the slippery road ahead of us. My family was driving back to my dormitory to retrieve my belongings, rain battering the windows of our rental Ford Expedition. A lighting rod struck the ground a few feet away from the car, leaving a smoldering patch of grass in its wake. Our lives flashed before our eyes—literally.
"Why did God even create lightning?!" my brother demanded from the passenger seat. My mother pulled a pillowcase over her head and tried to go to sleep. I couldn't help but laugh. This was not the freshman year I'd expected. But it's the one I got.
That said, my freshman year of college isn't defined by the COVID-19 pandemic alone. Online classes and quarantine aside, I had an incredible academic experience. I took my first major-related class, where I researched and argued for increased female leadership in the Catholic Church. I edited several projects for The Daily Texan's video department. My civic engagement group won Envision Austin, wherein Liberal Arts Honors students pitch non-profit proposals and compete for funding. I'm proud of the work I did this year and surprised by how quickly it all went. I can only hope to continue my education on The Forty Acres this fall, given the necessary precautions.
Though I didn't finish my final paper by eight o'clock, I did get a free hot chocolate and a visit from my boyfriend. My roommate was generous enough to pick me up in her car and drive to the nearest Whataburger, where we ordered plenty of burgers and fries to-go. We ran back from the parking garage in the rain, laughing hysterically all the while. Looking back, I only have fond memories of that thunderstorm. It didn't matter that I was stressed beyond belief or that my shoes were soaked. What mattered was the people and experiences I had along the way. They were—and continue to be—the silver linings of that day. Of every day.
Now in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic, I'm determined to locate the silver linings. And I think you should, too. ♡
Thank you for reading! As always, give this post a like and leave your email address in the subscription box below. If you'd like to check out some of my work from this past year, feel free to peruse the YouTube videos below. Stay safe, everyone!
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