Julianna Mariani ‘24

Eggplant Editor

For my final Spire article as a College of the Holy Cross freshman, I decided it would be fitting to do a brief review. So much has happened since I officially became a part of the Holy Cross community in the fall. Overall, I give my experience a solid 9/10 and I’ll tell you why. All jokes aside, this has been one of the best years of my life. I won’t lie, when we first got that email back in August that we weren’t going to be on campus in the fall, I went completely mute for a solid day and a half and spent the majority of those 36 hours crying into a pillow. Not so much about what I would be missing out on because I had nothing to compare college to except for movies, but because COVID had already taken away so much. It’s easy to point out the negatives in a pandemic, every tiny thing that goes on in our life gets added to a laundry list of “Things COVID Has Ruined.” I definitely have one of those, but I also have a laundry list titled “Things COVID Has Given Me.” Just a few of those bullets include:

• my roommate (and unofficial editor)
• a semester in my favorite place in the world
• increased independence
• The Ders (love you guys, thanks for always reading my articles)
• a chance to step outside of myself

and finally:

• an immense appreciation for the people that make our world turn

My relationship with this pandemic has had its ups and downs and there are definitely days when I want to cry into my pillow for another 36 hours, but I try to remind myself of all the little things I have to appreciate. As cliché as it sounds, I encourage you all to do the same. Being on campus this spring has been one of the best experiences of my life, and I’m saying that during a pandemic for Pete’s sake. That is the sole reason my rating isn’t a 10/10. All I can think about is how happy I’ll be here when I don’t have to worry about a panoramic, especially if I’m happy now. Granted, I am writing this article before finals week so my opinion could change, but I’m fairly confident in my current rating.