Blog 7: Personal Update

When news first started circulating that the coronavirus might possibly move classes online and restrict access to campus, I, like many others, failed to realize the seriousness behind the upcoming pandemic. At that point in time, I thought online classes would only last a short amount of time and actually had plans to come back to campus because I thought it would be fully functional at the time of my return. A few days into the extended spring break, a friend and I went back to Chapel Hill to pick up a few things from our dorms. When we were getting ready to leave, we received the email that UNC campuses were closing and that we would have to move out. A few hours after I received the email, I was pretty upset about the whole situation. I kept making jokes about how this was an overreaction, about how I should just buy cheap plane tickets to Mexico, really just embodying the “Gen Z” attitude of making light out of everything. Even though this was kind of a selfish attitude to embody, it helped me feel better about losing all the things that I loved that I had gained in college.

After a few days of extended spring break and countless hours of TikTok, it became easier to accept this new situation we were all forced into by knowing that others were also facing a similar situation. I also started to become more aware of how important social distancing was, making it a bit easier to grow more accustomed to the situation. During this time, I kept busy by rewatching a few of my favorite shows on Netflix. I also started watching Narcos on Netflix, which I entirely recommend, if only for its amazing theme song. I also became motivated to start working out more and eating healthier, which I was able to maintain for a few days before I gave up entirely on that endeavor. It is definitely something I would like to get back into after the first week of online classes, which has been actually pretty stressful.

To be completely honest, the first week of online classes did not go as great as I thought it might. Ever since they announced that classes were becoming remotely instructed, I became worried that it would be difficult to keep my attention on my work and not get distracted. I have taken online community college classes before and I was the worst at procrastinating my work to the final due date, which was often Sunday, and having the worst time that day trying to get all my work in order. The first few days went well and I remained fairly motivated. However, as it started getting closer to the end of the week and more and more due dates started popping up, I became a little overwhelmed and started to procrastinate again. I kept getting distracted by niche powerpoint TikToks and Twilight memes on Twitter, of which I have included examples. I am hoping that these next few weeks go a little more smoothly as I start to get more accustomed to this new format.

Actually, I am not able to upload videos with the free account, so here is a link to a niche powerpoint TikTok on why baby Grinch is the best baby character: https://vm.tiktok.com/GumuuW/