The past two years have brought on losses that no one could’ve predicted. The long-term effects of the world shutting down are still unfolding as we know it. With the major issues that have impacted the pillars of our society, such as the healthcare industry, other losses have flown under the radar. Specifically, the deprivation of life experiences that’s been felt by college students across the country. The pandemic strikes, throwing us all into remote learning and disrupting what’s supposed to be our transition into adulthood. As a result, many students have been left in a state of limbo. Having lost the last couple of years of our adolescence, many of us feel we’ve been forced into adulthood. However, the feeling of maturity and readiness to take on the world is nowhere to be found.
One person who knows this disorientation first-hand is Ashley Meads. A Howard University undergrad student who started her first year with enough credits to graduate two years early. But the pandemic made it so her plans, previously thought to be set in stone, were no longer attainable in our current climate. Now a senior with only one semester left until graduation, Meads reflects on her experiences during the past two years, as well as what she expects from the uncertain future. Watch the audio soundslide below to hear her story.
