Northeastern First-Year Writing (Sec 72)

It is actually the last full week of my freshman year - wow. It is crazy to think of how far I have come since even the thought of Northeastern. I really just thought about it today once I finished my last test before finals today. I really did spend my first semester of college in Greece and I really did love it. I got to go to so many cool countries and see amazing things people can only dream about. And to think that at one point I would regret that choice baffles me. I am completely 100% proud of my accomplishments to live on my own in an entirely foreign country and the fact that I got out a better person makes me even happier. While one can say that they live at college on their own, not all can say that they lived in another country on their own. It is different in a sense. Also, the timing of the NUin program could not have been any better as I was able to live life as an adventure last fall without having to worry about the coronavirus affecting my stay in Greece. I am worrie...

Well, week four... I honestly can't believe it has been four weeks of isolation from the world. I guess that was a bit dramatic, but it feels like exactly what has been happening even though I've gone out a couple times to run, take walks, and go get groceries of course. I feel like the world has been put on pause with the exception of the never-ending coronavirus news. I was about to go to bed a few nights ago and thought to myself, wow it really does feel like I am living the same day over-and-over again, in a constant loop. I try to do different things; I've baked, cooked, attempted to paint, journal, and of course attempted to make tiktoks with my sisters. However, now that I am in week four it all seems so passé and trying to fill every minute of my day until I go to sleep with small tasks is almost bothersome. At this point I have also had way too much time with my own thoughts and I am missing all the laughs, jokes, and silly things I was doing with my friends befor...

I still hate it at home.  One of the worst parts of being here, other than my brother always eating my favorite cheetos, is that I have completely screwed up my sleep schedule.  I have found myself in desperate need of getting away from my family because I can only handle being around them so much. At first, I’d just take my dog for a walk, but it turns out that my mom had the same idea, except we wouldn’t tell each other if we had walked little Rally yet or how many times we had.  My dog weighs 14 pounds and he is very lazy. He’s not fat, but he also has very little muscle and stamina. He is usually psyched to go for a walk, so I was shocked the other day when he didn’t get excited when I grabbed the leash, and I was even more flabbergasted when he sat down at the end of the driveway and refused to go any further.  After that incident, I realized that my mom had all but monopolized walking him, so I had to find something else to get away. As much as laying in ...

Something that I was really looking forward to doing was NUterm. I couldn't wait to experience campus life during the summer months. With the weather being warmer and the ability to spend more time among other freshman, I knew the possibilities were endless. There was so many things I wanted to do, like take a weekend trip to New York and explore more of what Boston has to offer. I know these are all things I can do in future years, but I was just excited to experience it all sooner rather than later, especially with N.U.in causing us to enter in the spring. This was a way, in my opinion, to connect with more students and enjoy being at Northeastern during the summer. Now however, I will be completing the courses I registered for online. Mostly, I wonder how lab is going to go. In addition, I'm not particularly excited to complete more exams using an online format, but there is nothing I can do. Learning through lectures that are on a screen has made everything so much more dif...

One of my friends texted our group chat and wrote that we have a week and a half left of classes.  After I read that, I had to read it again, and then go check my calendar because I just thought that was crazy.  I thought it was crazy that somehow I am almost finished with my first year of college. I feel like this year has been a whirlwind, it’s been full of so many changes, transitions, challenges.  It is crazy to me that somehow in the span of my freshman year, I travelled through Europe, came back to Northeastern and got my bearings on campus, and then now am finishing my freshman year at home doing online classes.  Nothing about our freshman year has been ordinary.   A year ago I didn’t know where I wanted to go to school, let alone thought that I was going to travel through Europe and be back at home come March.  I think it’s so crazy how much can change in so little time. I have some friends who are seniors in high school now, and I can’t...

That is such a sweet story! I think it's crazy how many weddings and celebrations have been virtual the past few weeks, and that people can still have their big wedding day or their birthday over zoom or FaceTime.  I have to say it really makes me appreciate the technology we have during this quarantine.  I celebrated my Grandma's birthday yesterday over Group FaceTime!

Instead of writing about quarantine because, frankly, I am sick about hearing about it, I am going to write about a happy memory I have. I am going to write about my spring break. That break was so much fun. My two friends and I went down to St. Thomas with my friend’s mom. It was the beginning of the corona outbreak so I wore a mask on the plane, even though they told people to not if they weren’t sick. We arrived in St. Thomas and the weather was beautiful. It was so warm and sunny. We then quickly boarded the ferry and got to St. John in twenty minutes. Upon arrival, we picked up our rental jeep and drove up to our villa. It was breathtaking. We had a view of so many islands and a gorgeous infinity pool. I could not believe we were going to be living there for six days. Each room had a king-size bed and a luxurious outdoor shower. We immediately jumped in the pool. We saw our first sunset of the trip from the water. Then, when it got dark we turned on the pool light. I was swimming...

As the days in quarantine continue, I am actually becoming more and more thankful that I have a sister. Although at times we might want to kill each other, I really couldn't imagine going through this quarantine without her. For the past about a month my sister and I have accomplished many new adventures we forgot were there. For example, we rediscovered our Wii. This has been a huge game changer during quarantine, as it has become a daily ritual to compete against each other in Mario Cart. We even dug through the game closet as my house and have started playing games such as, rummikub, memory, and too many card games to count. Although we are both busy with classes and homework, it is these parts of the days that I look forward to. If I have a thirty minute break in between my online classes, and she has a forty-five minute break, we can easily fit in a couple rounds of Mario Kart before we both have to get back to work. My sister is almost three years older than me in age, but o...

Coping through quarantine has been an interesting time for me. Until now I didn't realize how much joy I got from seeing people go about their lives even if I didn't know them. The first few days of quarantine were definitely harder than I expected. I found myself being too dependent on keeping in touch with everyone from campus life and that was honestly stressing me out. I also found myself becoming lethargic. I stopped working out, didn't try to walk 10,000 steps and was not eating healthy anymore. All I did was lay in bed honestly. I've combated this by giving myself daily incentives. If it's a nice day out I'll take my dog out for a walk( don't worry i'm wearing gloves and a mask) and then I'll do jump roping outside and come inside to do a workout around 6:30 pm. This is something I look forward to and it allows me to get outside the house and do something. I've also got my parents into a health kick. My parents cook relatively healthy me...

By now we all know that we should all be quarantined and practicing social distancing. That being said, I have had multiple celebrations canceled because of coronavirus. I have experienced one of two things, cancellation or zoom call. Currently, I am watching one of my lifelong neighbors, Sandhi, get married. He was supposed to be married sometime this summer in Seattle, which I was extremely excited about. I love getting dressed up, and I was especially excited to go to the West Coast to see Sandhi get married to his fiance (now wife!). After Seattle was labeled to be an epicenter of the coronavirus, the wedding couldn't possibly be held there, so it was canceled. This was unbelievably sad because of the fact that they had been dating for so long and we have long awaited their wedding. Since they are Harvard Medical students, they are in Boston right now. They had the ceremony on the river, which was BEAUTIFUL; today was a perfect day for a wedding! More about the newlyweds(!), mo...

Another week has gone by, and I say my mood about quarantine is only increasingly becoming more negative. I know that my life could definitely be worse, but I am getting very old of the same routine every day. The most exciting thing that happened to me this past week was yesterday when it seemed like almost everyone in my entire town went outside because of the beautiful day. There were people absolutely everywhere, all walking their dogs, running, or walking with friends. My sister and I got to walk down to the beach and watch some surfers catch waves. I live MA, so even though they looked like they were having fun, I know that the water was absolutely freezing in the 40-degree weather. They were a ton of people sitting on top of the causeway taking pictures and videos, or just sitting there to watch. It was really cool though because I haven't seen that many people in my town band up together to watch surfers down at our public beach. And it was really nice to see some new faces...

My high school was a mix between a boarding school and a regular school. We had students from all around the world living on campus and students who lived a short 15 minute drive away. Last year, after my mom moved out of the US, I began boarding on campus. It was during this year of living on campus that my feelings towards walking changed. I used to hate walking. I always thought it was too slow. I also hated running because I thought it was too tiring. This resulted in me preferring not to move when I didn't have to. Last year when I lived on campus, between the hours of after sports and before study hall, my friends and I did not know what to do with ourselves. We didn't want to spend these 2 hours of freedom in a building watching TV because we knew that once it got cold out, that is what we will be using the 2 hours for. Instead, we usually spent the 2 hours going on walks. On many occasions, these walks didn't really have a destination. We would either wander aroun...

The end of the semester is 2 weeks away and with that it will be the end of our first year of college. That to me is a pretty crazy sentence that doesn't feel right. The fact that I am currently sitting in my childhood bedroom just adds to the fact that I still don't really feel like a college student. I definitely had a very strange first year. Spending my first semester in a completely different country, spending the first two months of the 2nd semester on campus, and then getting sent home due to a global pandemic. That last sentence really shows you how crazy life can get. If you had told me that a year ago I would of thought you were crazy. It really was one of the best years of my life though, up until the corona virus part that is. At risk of becoming too existential I have begun thinking about what the next school year might look like. I am afraid to plan anything because now more than ever am I aware of how unpredictable things are. I hope we will have a fall semester...

This post is a continuation of a story from last week's post, so it might be a little bit confusing if you don't read that one. But don't let me tell you what to do. I should also give some context as to what the built-ins in my room look like. I've said they cover one wall, but they also stretch a little onto another. The bottom half is cabinet-style cupboards and drawers, with a surface on top, much like what happens in kitchens—this is probably a bit lower than your average kitchen, but that's not important. Above these cupboards are shelves, which are wonderful for holding bins to put things in, specifically those foldable bins from Target that have the handle on the front and a flat piece that reinforces the bottom. Anyways, the cupboard surface extends across the whole wall, and where it wraps around to the other wall, there is a desk, and. there is a similar style of shelving on the other half of the wall(Yes, finally! We have gotten back to the desk). This ...

With all the COVID-19 stuff going on I haven’t had a whole lot on my mind besides school. However, to keep my mind off the fact that I may not be able to hang out with friends for potentially the whole summer, I try to cook. I love cooking, and as annoying as it was to have to make every meal for myself when I was in Ireland for 4 months, I still enjoyed eating my final products. My apartment was on the bottom floor and had a fairly large window in front of the kitchen, so generally people could see me whenever I made food. I always thought it was somewhat funny when people walking out of the quad would see what I was making, and I would often do the same if anyone else was cooking too. I think I started really cooking when I was in like 6th or 7th grade, and one of the first things I learned how to make was Chicken Piccata. My grandfather taught me it, and since then it’s been somewhat of a “specialty” of mine. I mostly make Italian food, but over the past few years I’ve branched ou...

Waking up and going on Twitter is the worst. Every time I think this viral outbreak has gotten better, it has only gotten worse. I'm trying so hard to stay positive but our state just announced another lockdown for 30 more days. Not to mention, turning on the news is very discouraging. All they discuss is how to flatten the curve and then give live updates on the amount of cases there are. I hate when they mention the amount of people that have died or the healthcare workers that are catching corona. This is important information to disclose, I know, but it is extremely saddening to hear. Also, sitting at home you feel helpless staring at the TV. I couldn't believe the information about America having the most cases in comparison to all the other countries (including hugely impacted countries from the virus such as China, Spain and Italy). I knew this could be a possibility but for it to be true was unreal. ` In terms of being in my home, everyday is still the same. This is p...

this quarantine is still making me lose time. i have spent endless hours on tiktok and have little motivation to do anything. I miss my friends from college I miss college on campus and I miss the poke bowl place near campus. The lockdown got extended even further (for good reasons) and I may die of boredom soon. However I have successfully made 4 different batches of cookies so I would say that I am at least excelling at one thing. One thing specifically has been on my mind in these lonesome hours: why can't chik-fil-a be open 24/7? I love it so much and it is so so yummy. I have noticed I have little to discuss on a long rant but considering my paper I am struggling just a little bit. Easy fix as long as I can sit down and get into it. But organizing deaths is hard. Rating which one had a bigger impact on the show vs the audience vs me. I think that is my biggest issue because since it is a review I feel as if what I am saying makes sense to me but it may compare differently t...

I am stressed. I do not know how many weeks into online classes we are, but I still feel as though we started yesterday. I am constantly scared that I am missing assignments. It is not that I am drowning in work, it is that I am getting so many due dates for so many assignments that I cannot keep track of them. In short, quarantine is driving me crazy. It is so boring. Wake up, class, breakfast, work, dinner, sleep, repeat. I have been around my family and my cats for way too long. First of all, I have been spending too much time with my cats. Now, for most people this would be a blessing, but I think I may be going crazy. Secondly, I obviously haven’t been going to the gym, so I am becoming completely and utterly out of shape. This, above all else, is driving me the craziest. Despite that, I have no motivation whatsoever to work out.  The one interesting constant in my quarantined life has been my sassy cat. He’s an all-white grumpy old man of a cat. Yesterday I had a full figh...

Happy April 1st! Waking up this morning I didn't even know we were in a new month. See the days are fusing together and I honestly lose track of what week I'm on. I have not left my house once in 2 1/2 weeks and I am going mad. I totally get it this coronavirus is real and it's dangerous but I miss seeing other faces. Nothing against my parents but like they aren't cutting it. It also sucks being under their roof again. In college I literally do as I please and don't check in with anyone but back home that is not the same reality. I feel like I'm 15 all over again and have no voice in my house which absolutely sucks. My parents and I are in a weird place where my dad still thinks I'm 12 and my mom realizes I'm 18 but loves treating me like I am two years old. This whole my house my rules thing is a lot to handle for such a long time and I cannot deal. All I know is this weekend I am getting in my car and at least going for a drive. I may meet up with s...

I feel really lucky during this time to have technology that connects me to friends around the world and the country. Time zones make reaching them complicated and I feel that I resent the boundaries I have to set in order to ensure I do homework. Even though I feel so lucky to be able to communicate with them, it has to be spread out during the day according to where they live and when their days start. It feels like such a relief seeing their face and hearing about their days, but I end a call feeling transported back to a reality of isolation. It feels as though all I need to do to patch the hurt I feel is to pick up the phone, but that’s not really a solution to my loneliness and is certainly not conducive to productive studying. I have tried connecting with people and keeping them on the phone while we study together, but logistically that hasn’t been a practical solution thus far. Additionally, I think that in the midst of uncertainty, I feel the need to prioritize academics ove...