About 2 weeks back I stopped by UTD to drop off a library book. I hadn’t been to the campus in a long time. The feeling was eerie as soon as I came to the parking lot. I was surprised at first to see there was parking available. The only other car I saw was a truck from the UTD Police. It was jarring to see the school so empty. I walked a little more from the parking lot to ECS South, where I first saw someone else. Walking down towards the Plinth, it saddened me to see the walkway devoid of people on their bikes, scooters and skateboards zipping past me. Once I got to the Plinth, I was shocked to see there were people at the tables by the Student Union. I didn’t even know why they were there in the first place; it was a Sunday (which might have explained why the campus was empty. Heh). As I went to drop my copy of Neuromancer to the return bin by the library, I pondered about how hard quarantining yourself can really be. I’ve heard so many UTD students talk about how they would like at least one class to be on campus, despite the risk of COVID-19. I didn’t understand the reason behind wanting to go back to campus, until I went back to campus. For many students like me, getting used to online learning has been quite the task. Even though I consider myself an introvert, being away from fellow Comets has been rough. Unfortunately, all my classes for the fall semester are online. Although this means I don’t have to pay for parking this semester, it also means it’s going to be more than 6 months before I can see my friends in person again. I never realized how much I would miss my friends. I sighed a little as I finally dropped my book to the return bin and walked all the way back up to the parking area. As I finally got into my car, I took a second to let it finally hit me that I wouldn’t see this place until next year. And then, I went home, somehow a little bit more jealous of the people living on campus.
