2 at USNA, and one at a *regular* college mom here. It IS tough all over. EVERY academic institution is struggling with how to manage this, and keep morale up. And also teach/train. And be responsible to the community where they are situated, following state and CDC guidelines. I’ll include a screen shot of a post from my regular college group. The struggle is EVERYWHERE!! Kids at my regular college students school are sitting in dorms, alone, having cold and sub par food delivered to their rooms. No live classes. No roommates (bc many have left to go home). No interaction with others. And they are still paying full tuition, non refundable dorm and dining fees. ‘Illegal’ gathering getting busted, and kids expelled bc if this.
I get it. And as a mom, the WORST thing for me personally is when my kiddos are unhappy/struggling. So it’s painful for me personally to be coming up on the ONE YEAR mark of this historical pandemic. And all the loss. So much loss. For my kids.
There is no way I would have the grit needed to get through this away from home. Y’all are hero's in my eyes. What my own focus on, is EVERYONE is doing the best that they can. Absolutely everyone. No one out there has a long term goal of making people more miserable than they already are. And what I would say to people complaining, is “how would YOU do this?” What would you do, within all the constrains/rules/regulations required of the decision makers? Many constraints you probably don’t know about. How would you make everything amazing? It’s impossible. There are no winners.
As far as how present day situation, is not a reflection in YouTube and recruiting brochures? It’s a pandemic. Of course it’s not. Presently. BUT, as already pointed out, it will be again. Sooner rather than later. Every day we are closer. Maybe y’all don’t follow current events as much, but VAX is ramping up. Whatever is being said about summers and trainings is a best guess at this point, but if there is a way, they will happen. Bc the officer training pipeline must be continued.
There is an ROTC thread currently going on the forums inquiring if kids are making their school choice selections based upon schools that are live or not, with people or not in a dorm room. An interesting read. Kids are selecting based upon being on campus, with others. So, while your cramped quarters may be an annoyance to you, it’s desirable to others. At least you are with friends, vs alone. ‘Grass is greener’ kind of thing. I get it, a person can’t know what they don’t know. But I promise it’s not all puppies and unicorns other places. That isn’t to diminish your own ‘suck’, but to point out it ‘sucks’ everywhere.
‘Hang in there’ seems so cliche. But sometimes? It’s all we can do. Fake it til you make it kind of thing. Is it asking a lot? Yes. But that’s where we are presently. Y’all are already at the 1 month in mark. Practice what you learned over this last summer, about getting through one more day. Bc those quickly add up to another week gone, and that turns into a month. And if you are struggling...seek help. No shame in that. At all. Chaplains are amazing resources. One of my own visited with them. And they can help with anything. They have superpowers!! And are available for you or your family, if they are concerned about you (obviously they won’t betray confidence). Also your mates. And it’s true, but everyone will make it through. There will be those that drop out. And that’s fine. No shame at all in realizing your own limitations.
Lastly, as I’ve suggested to my own, stay off the social media sites that are negative. Just turn them off for a bit. It’s just not healthy to pile more and more mental junk, on to your already big pile of mental junk. Y’all are already in enough negativity, drowning yourself in more misery only exasperates your mental state. “Misery loves company” kind of thing.
Someday this will all be just a story. A memory. That you revisit with your classmates, and impress your grandkids with (or try too
). The pain will diminish, and only the extraordinary thing that ‘you survived a year of Covid’ will remain. You will tell these stories with a slight grin on your face, proud of your ability to get through it. A knowing nod to others that ‘embraced the suck’, too. And share your “back in my day” stories to the younger crowd, complaining about their own present day challenges. Someday all this will be JUST a memory...
Hang in there, and get through another day. Whatever that looks like! We are all rooting for y’all!!
