Ready for pandemic to end

Samantha Weber, Staff writer

I am looking forward to not having to wear masks anymore.

I will certainly not miss the mask sticking to my Chapstick or having to constantly adjust my mask because my glasses keep fogging up. I’m looking forward to being able to go out and not have to worry about whether I forgot my mask at home.

Additionally, I am looking forward to having a more normal college experience. I am looking forward to going to in-person club meetings and going off campus for some of the MAC/SAC events every weekend.

I also want my friends from back home to be able to come up and visit and we can spend the day at Presque Isle, and I can show off how beautiful Mercyhurst is to them.

But, probably the thing I want most is to be able to attend sporting games and support the Laker teams!

I am most excited for hockey games to start up again as hockey is my favorite sport. Outside of school, I am most looking forward to hugging my family again. Some of my family I have not seen for about a year because we do not see them that often to begin with and then the world shut down, so no one was going to travel to visit each other.

My one grandma has a bad immune system, so she has been isolated by herself, so when the weather got nicer, we had all her kids and grandkids come in for a socially distanced lunch for her birthday.

It was nice and all, but it was different from hugging them and not having to worry about getting too close.

I miss being able to see all my aunts, uncles, and cousins who I only see around four times a year to begin with, and it feels I have not seen them in forever. I am also looking forward to not feeling guilty after going out with some friends.

Even though we always wear masks and abide by social distancing guidelines, I always feel a little guilty after going off campus even if it is to run down to CVS to get some food.

Additionally, whenever I go back home for winter and summer break, I am going to go back to my job at our local rec center where I work in the playroom, so I watch kids while their parents go workout.

I truly miss every one of the kids, so I am hoping that more parents are bringing in the kids and that when I go back I get to see some of them that I have not seen in a while.

Overall, I just can’t wait for life to go back to normal, at least a little bit. I know it will probably be a while before we do not have to wear masks whenever we leave our room, but we are making good progress and I think there is a light at the end of this very long tunnel.