Dear Katy from Spring 2020, 

You don’t know it yet, but the pandemic isn’t going to be over before the summer comes. I know that right now, you must be thinking that even though this lockdown sucks, you just need to push through to the end of the semester, and then things will return to normal. You’re thinking that you won’t need to wear a mask anymore, that you’ll be able to go to an amusement park, that movie theatres will reopen.  

I know that you’re upset you can’t be attending classes in person, especially because this is Dr. Trainor’s last semester, and so you won’t get a chance to say goodbye to him. I know that you’re upset, too, because you miss being able to see everyone from The Willow and you hoped that the end-of-the-year celebration would be in person. At this time, you’re still hopeful that next spring’s end-of the-year celebration will be in person because most of them are going to be graduating then and you want to be able to say goodbye before they do. You don’t yet realize that most everything will still be online at this time. I know that despite all these things that have upset you, you’re a bit relieved to be home instead of on campus because your roommate kept stalking and harassing you and your other friend, but that this small relief isn’t much compared to the cons of online rather than in person classes. I also know that at this time, you’re still hoping you’ll get to study abroad in England for the Spring 2021 semester.  

A lot is going to happen over the course of this year. There’s going to be both good and bad things, and there’s going to be things that are hard and things that are enjoyable and things that are both. You’re going to spend most of the summer learning French for the core credits you need, since you didn’t take a foreign language course at Salve, and it’s not going to be fun, but you’re also going to get to visit Quentin and see him in person which will be nice. You’re going to raise and take care of a kitten named Holly which will also be nice, and there’s a picture you’ll treasure where she hopped on Quentin’s back and perched there after he came to visit and met her. You’re going to continue playing Dungeons and Dragons with your boyfriend and friends, and Bubs is going to join you guys when sessions switch from weekly ones to bi-weekly ones with Kyle and Quentin alternating who DMs the session. I know that at this point, you haven’t been playing in Shards of Eurinor for long, but I think you’ll be happy to know the campaign has lasted over a year and is still ongoing. You’ll have these sessions to look forward to and continue looking forward to even though there will be weeks where you all can’t meet due to school and burnout. You’ll discover new songs you enjoy listening to as you work on assignments and stories, and these songs will remind you of your characters and help develop them in your head. You’ll discover new series like Evangelion and Shadows House which will inspire you in your own stories as well. I know you’ll be sad to say goodbye to those you’ve met who are amazing writers and people who are going to be graduating this spring, but you’ll also meet an incoming freshman who is also an amazing writer and person.  

It’s going to be difficult adjusting to online courses, and you’re going to struggle a lot to focus in them. You don’t know it yet, but you’re going to have issues with eating and keeping on top of everything and you’re going to feel as if your body is collapsing on you and that you just can’t keep up with all you want to get done no matter what you do. It’s going to lead you to wonder if there is something wrong with you and to not understand why you aren’t functioning properly as you should be. However, you’re also going to get the chance to attend classes that introduce material you enjoy reading about, writing about, learning about such as history of cinema and slam poems, witches in literature, surreal fiction and elements of craft. These courses will lead you to come up with new ideas for your characters and for the worlds in which they reside, and they’ll introduce you to both your peers’ works and the works of authors who you can learn from.  

I know it took a lot longer than you thought it would and then you hoped it would, but there’s a vaccine out and you’ll be able to get it soon. In the fall of 2021, you should be able to return to in person classes, and I hope this will help your performance in class and help you focus better than you have been.  

Take care, 

Katy from Spring 2021