I started sophomore year of college more confident than when I started freshman year. I had a year of experience under my belt and I was excited to learn new ideas and share mine in my courses. Fall semester was challenging, but a stimulating kind of challenging. I returned to campus in my role as an Office Assistant in Nosker House on north campus and as a board member of the OSU Figure Skating club. I decided I wanted to get more involved in student organizations on campus and so I went through the recruitment process for Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity. I was offered a bid for the initiation program, and I was inducted into the organization at the end of the semester. I think it was a great idea for me because although I wanted the feeling of a sorority, I did not feel that those organizations were right for me. I think Phi Sigma Pi is perfect for me because it is gender-inclusive and an academic honor fraternity, and academics are my focus when I’m on campus. We have really fun events that fall under our three pillars of scholarship, leadership, and fellowship. I’m really glad I made the choice to join, even though it was a little scary at first.

Academically, my third semester of college was one of the more challenging ones. Many of my classes required a lot of reading and writing, so I needed to be constantly up to date and not leave everything for the last minute or I would fall behind. In total, I read nine books over the semester and plenty of supplemental excerpts for my classes. The readings were challenging, but also interesting and helped me understand the material in the course, as well as the real world. Unfortunately, I struggled a little bit with some of the assignments and ended up receiving a grade that I would usually regard as below my standards. However, I was proud of myself for making it through the semester, balancing my classes, my job, and my extracurricular obligations.

In the spring of my sophomore year, I was again excited to return to campus, eager to jump into my classes and expand on the breadth of knowledge I had gained from the fall semester. It started out great! I loved going to classes and completing the reading and assignments. I also participated in the STEP program, so I was busy applying for my internship and writing my proposal to use my grant in a professional internship at Senator Sherrod Brown’s office in Cleveland. The weekend before spring break, I went to a skating competition, and then I had planned to go to Montreal. However, the rapid spread of COVID-19 in the United States forced me to cancel my trip and stay home. Then, the university announced that they would be extending spring break and eventually, forced everyone to leave campus and administer classes strictly online. Although it was disappointing to finish my sophomore year at my desk in my bedroom at home, I know it was the best decision for the health and safety of all of the students, faculty, and staff. The adjustment to online classes was frantic, disorganized, and startling. Entire lessons plans were reworked, some exams were canceled altogether, but I think my professors did a really great job of handling it on such sort notice. It was a little difficult to pay attention and stay on top of things when all you’re doing is sitting in front of a computer for class. You don’t get to engage with you classmates and professors in the same way. It was a lackluster end to the semester; not as fulfilling as it would have been on campus.

I ended up losing my internship and going back to work at my high school job, once it had opened again. I spent my summer doing exactly what I didn’t want to do. I thought of this as a form of regression, when I should have been progressing in my academic and post-graduation aspirations. It was a difficult time in my life, as I’m sure it was in everyone else’s as well. Looking back, I shouldn’t have been so hard on myself. Everyone in the world was impacted by the pandemic and I was no exception. I made it seem like my failures were my fault, and sometimes they were, but sometimes they were inevitable. I am going to remember this time for the rest of my life, if we even end up getting out of it.