I wake up Friday morning, the day after the announcement and it hits me. As I sit here looking around my room I think of all the goodbyes I am not prepared to say. Today is the last day of my freshman year, a day I was excited for, but now it’s over a month early.

Back in high school and middle school, school closing was a glorious time, but now it signifies more than just free time. Going back home is something I love, but not when it means leaving the people I have seen every day for the past year. I am going to miss sitting in calculus class bored half to death. I am going to miss the long walks to class. I am going to miss my 11 o’clock sharp lunches and 5 o’clock dinners. I am going to miss the random days my boy and I would go to breakfast and catch up with old friends or enjoy the peace and quiet of the caf before the world was awake. I am going to miss my new family at the BCM. I am going to miss our connect group. I am going to miss my Sunday School class and the Sunday morning sermons. I am going to miss going through life with people who have become my world.

Back home things will be easy. Back home I will be able to go back to my old routine. Back home I won’t have responsibility. Back home I won’t be motivated to learn. When choosing to go to school, I decided against online school because I crave being around people. Yes, I know I am an introvert, but we need people as well. Human beings crave relationships. That is how we were made. We are made to be around other people. A part of me is excited to go back with my family, but since that means leaving the family I have created here, that is extremely hard.

Yesterday I was excited because it was something different, something new. Now, I am mourning the days to come as slowly people pack up and leave. People all around me will be checking out of their freshman year dorms forever. We are going to be handing over our keys for the last time. We will become dependent once again on other people.

Many of my friends just got jobs here, some lives hundreds of miles away. This is a hard time for them. My sorrows are minuscule in comparison. I urge you to pray for the students making hard decisions right now. Not everyone has a home they can go back to. For some, college was the great escape. Some may be going back home to horrible family situations. Thankfully, as of now, campus will remain open, but this could change if things get worse. Pray that the faculty and staff will remain healthy. Pray for the food staff. Pray that their families will be safe, and they will be able to continue their jobs. Pray for our government as they make hard decisions to protect our people. Pray for those who are sick as they fight off this disease. A few weeks ago, coronavirus was a joke, now, it is changing lives.