Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent quarantine began, millions of thoughts have been running through my head.
When, if ever, will I walk for graduation? How in the world am I going to get a job in sports media when there are no sports to cover? When is the next time I will be able to see my friends and members of my extended family?
It is hard not to dwell on your own thoughts during this time. With not much else to do other than think about life, getting caught up in your thoughts and thinking nothing but the worst is commonplace and almost unavoidable.
Last week I was up late and thinking about my future. Despite all the negative thoughts running through my head at that time, I had a moment of clarity.
I realized that patience is the key to getting through coronavirus craziness.
At some point, I will walk for graduation. It might be a while, but it is going to happen at some point in the future. Sports will return. Again, it might take a while, but sports will be back and I will have a shot at getting a job. I will see my friends and family again, even if it is not as soon as I would like.
Staying positive and remaining patient is the best way to avoid going crazy during this time. I realize that this is easier said than done, as there are small business owners in danger of losing everything they worked so hard to build and people who are struggling to put food on the table for their family and pay rent without a paycheck coming in. Those people are dealing with stress levels that I cannot begin to fathom.
But for people my age, who do not have the same concerns as those fighting to keep their business alive or those finding ways to come up with enough money to live, I think that staying patient is the best way to go at this time. There is no sense in digging yourself into the hole of thinking nothing but dark thoughts. There is no sense in only thinking the worst when, even though it might not seem like it sometimes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
COVID-19 will never truly go away, but at some point, life will return to what we once knew it to be. We will walk for graduation. We will get jobs once the market gets back to normal. We will see our friends and family again. We will get back to doing the things we love.
All we have to do is stay patient in order to get there.
Tyler Calvaruso is a senior journalism major from Howell, N.J. You can reach him at tyler.calvaruso@student.shu.edu or on Twitter @tyler_calvaruso.
