It’s not even October, but everywhere on campus, students are feeling the heavy weight of the semester. We all seem to be collectively struggling our way through the past week, carrying a burden of exams, essays and exhaustion into the traditional midterm season. Juggling multiple stressors are making some of us question our involvement on campus or if our schedules are actually sustainable. And it’s not even October.

We can’t reiterate enough the social and emotional toll that returning to campus after a year and a half of being away can take on anyone at Trinity. Not only are we zapped of energy being around so many people after it was largely unsafe to do so, but we’re still caught in a web of safety measures and precautions we must take to walk the line between going back to “normal” and living within a pandemic.

It can be hard to talk about how we feel without sounding ungrateful for the accommodations made allowing us to return to campus. Our Trinitonian staff, for example, was eager to come back into the newsroom. As we laid out pages and talked through our story budget face to face, we were happy for the quick communication that didn’t require a scheduled Zoom meeting. However, this doesn’t change the fact that the transition to in-person classes, events and living has been hard.

Part of the exhaustion we are all experiencing right now comes from the uncertainty of what will come. Each week, we await COVID reports and updates to campus policies that ultimately change how we live our lives at Trinity. There is no “normal” to lean back on, no precedent to follow, no insurance that what we did today will be what we do tomorrow.

As much as we would like to provide solace to those feeling lost, we too are unsure of how to move forward. Part of this problem is that it’s unsolvable, so the best we can do is continue looking for solutions in the things in which we find gratitude, joy or at least not frustratingly endless stress. We can continue to talk about how we feel and lean on those around us who may understand. All we can do while waiting for the day when answers come to light and the future is clearer is try to find peace in the interim.