Editor’s Note

Volume I, Issue 2

It has been just over two years since the COVID-19 state of emergency in the U.S. began, and over the last few months, life has, in many ways, normalized. Schools are open, colleges and universities are offering more in-person courses, indoor dining doesn’t feel as risky, and people are traveling again. It is sometimes easy to forget that the pandemic is still very much happening. But as we transition from a state of emergency to living with this virus, some of the terrible consequences of the lockdowns are emerging. As college students start to take more and more in-person classes, it is becoming clear that the lockdowns had long-lasting consequences for students’ mental health and emotional well-being, and while many students are happy to be back in the classroom, returning to in-person has induced anxiety about social interactions with peers and professors and about potentially catching the virus while on campus.

Nonetheless, young people are more resilient than they are given credit for, and as this issue’s stories will demonstrate, many students emerged from the lockdowns with greater self-awareness and better-defined goals and desires. Students did not wallow in the isolation of the COVID-19 lockdowns, but instead, they found ways of coping, keeping busy, and taking care of their physical and emotional health. In other words, college students, as represented by this issue’s authors, defied the dominant narrative that we have constructed for them – that they are weak and unmotivated, that they squandered the lockdowns on social media and binge-watching, and that they shirked their studies and other responsibilities. The reality is quite different. College students found hobbies, they developed exercise routines, they took on extra work to support their loved ones, and despite the limitations of online learning, the continued their studies.

This issue’s stories give readers insight into the realities of being a college student during the pandemic, with a particular focus on how students have transitioned from a state of emergency to living with the virus. These authors and their peers have emerged from the pandemic stronger, wiser, and more motivated. It goes without saying that the pre-pandemic normal wasn’t ideal for most, as there was a great deal of social and racial inequities and exploitation, not to mention a toxic political climate. This “big pause,” as one student described it, was an opportunity for many, these students included, to slow down, to see these pathologies, and to reorient themselves in order to achieve their own ideal “normals.” These are their stories. Enjoy!

Jeramy Wallace

Editor, The People’s Stories