DEAR HARRIETTE: COVID has changed a lot for the education system. I just started my freshman year in college, and although I knew things were going to be different than expected, living in a dorm seems pointless. Some schools even deliver your meals. Luckily, at mine, I get to go pick it up and bring it back to my dorm. But there is literally nothing to do here. There are no sports, no gym, no clubs, no events, no parties. You cannot be around friends in computer labs or libraries or common rooms just to watch TV. We are forced into isolation and it is beginning to wear on me.
The transition from high school into college is hard enough, and virtual learning is making it more difficult. I never learn in my room. It is harder to focus, and I don’t feel like I am actually being influenced and learning the material. I just want to move out and go home. It is exhausting, and I feel like there’s nothing I can do here that I can’t do back at home with my family. Is this our new world? -- Sick of COVID
DEAR SICK OF COVID: The emotional toll that COVID-19 is taking on our world is dramatic. Many colleges offered the option for students to be on campus and live in dorms, but out of an abundance of caution, no activities are being held -- as you described. Isolation can wear you down emotionally and physically.
Before you go home, consider whether there are any students with whom you can visit outdoors at a safe distance. Can you connect with anyone in meaningful ways? If not, it may be best to move back home and do your work remotely until a vaccine can rescue us.