Hey Columbia, Katie here. ✌🏼 While I’m the digital media intern here at COLAtoday, I’m also a graduating senior at the University of South Carolina. There’s no question that life has changed drastically in the past couple of months. This “new normal” has affected everyone differently + I hope that by sharing my story, I can speak for the graduating class and give some insight into how life has changed for college students.

Our original spring break was supposed to be March 7-15. On the Friday before, I got some clothes together to spend the week at home in New Jersey and packed my car to start my drive back home. Little did I know that when I left my college house, it would be the last time I would be there for a few months.

Spring break was relatively normal and I talked with my college friends about our plans for the upcoming weeks once we were back. I remember hearing about the first couple northern schools that were going online and thinking ‘There’s no way that will happen to us’. That was until we found out that we would have an extra week off from classes and online classes for a couple of weeks. At this point, there was a general feeling of excitement – who wouldn’t want an extended spring break? Again, if only I had known what was to come.

Day by day, as new information came out, I started to come to terms with the fact that all of those plans for St. Patrick's Day, senior pictures, weekend trips + graduation might not be happening. It’s definitely hard not to look back and wish that I had taken advantage of those last few months of school. This experience has really made me realize how important it is to be thankful for every moment with my friends, every day I get to go into the office for work and even those mornings where I had to drag myself out of bed to go to class. If I had known that the last time I went out and grabbed food with my friends would’ve been my last for a while, I would have appreciated it so much more.

But at this point, thinking about things that we could’ve done differently is not going to accomplish anything. Right now, I am thankful for the health of my family + friends and that is my #1 concern. I am also thankful for the fact that I have been able to continue working for COLAtoday, even from my home in New Jersey. It has been so rewarding to still be a part of the Cola community, even when I’m 500 miles away.

As a senior, it is also easy to feel bitter that the last semester of my college experience was taken away from me. However, there are people in our country, and even in our community, who have unfortunately lost so much more. Being in New Jersey, the state with the second-highest number of cases in the country, has made me look at everything that much more seriously and it has made me that much more thankful that I am able to write this today.

Life will go back to normal eventually. We will be able to hug our friends + family again, go out to Cantina 76 for tacos + margs, spend our Saturdays at Soda City and even go on weekly Target runs. And I know for me at least, I will appreciate those little moments of normalcy so much more. Those days will come. In the meantime, I am reminiscing about the best 3 ½ years of my life at the University of South Carolina and finding the positive moments in every day.

Stay strong, Cola. We’ll get through this together.