Good day, everyone!
My plans for over the summer… if you were to ask me that before the COVID-19 happened, I would have said, “I don’t know. I’ll probably find a job and switch between living in Ames and Des Moines from time to time.” But, if you asked me now, I still honestly would say “I don’t know, haha.” Every time someone asks me that question or something similar to it, I feel nervous because I feel as if they expect a good answer like all my other friends have, such as “Oh, I will be moving to [insert cool city/state] for [insert cool job they have lined up for them after graduation].” But for me, that’s not the case. I don’t even have anything close to that. Adulting is scary, isn’t it?
Oh, yeah. I graduate next month, May 9th, 2020! As you all may know by now, commencement for Iowa State University and many other universities have been canceled to encourage everyone to practice social distancing and help flatten the curve of COVID-19 cases. Because many people are sad and disappointed that they cannot walk across the stage after spending four-plus years of hard work, dedication, sacrifices, and many more to be where they are and achieve what they have achieved, the university has decided to hold commencement virtually! Although it’s not as satisfying or rewarding as it would be to have it in person, it’s something…right? For me, I was pretty bummed out about it even if I didn’t express it. I envisioned this whole scenario of all of my close friends finally graduating together and that I would finally cry in front of them (I never cry)... but that won’t happen because the virus happened. However, I’ve come to terms with it because even though we won’t get to walk across the stage together or watch each other receive that handshake of achievement and diploma case, I know that we will still be there for each other and keep in contact, right? That’s what I hope, at least.
I kind of went off tangent with the whole graduation and COVID-19 bit, haha. But the point with that is, I love and appreciate all of my close friends that I came to know and met during my college career. I finally found people I can call my lifelong friends. As I have said earlier, adulting is scary. No one is really prepared for it. It just happens and you just have to deal with it -- okay, not completely true because you can be prepared for things like finances and all, but you get what I mean. The most important thing is that you have the support system you need as you go through the challenges of being an adult.
That being said, for the summer after graduation, I hope that I can see my friends again; I hope that I will be able to find a good-paying job that will help me make money to pay off loans; I hope that I will be able to find something I am interested in and possible become my passion (gotta try and put my degree to use!); and lastly, I hope that I am able to still maintain my friendship/relationship with everyone and happily watch them grow into the wonderful adults I know they will be. I have quite a bit more to say, but I’ll just end it here since this is supposed to be a short blog. I hope that everyone stays safe, practice social distancing, practice basic, good hygiene, support anyone you can, take care of yourselves, find the resources you need to help you through these trying times, and to be kind to one another. Thank you for reading my blog if you made it all the way to the end!
Written by Tran "Eridαto" Nguyen