BUFFALO, NY – Where do we go from here? A question that not only has an existential demeanor attached to it, but a profound reality tied to our current predicament. The unfortunate truth with our current reality makes individuals feel bleak and sorrowful as to what’s to come next. It’s nearly impossible to look at the current situation we’re all in and try to find a positive element from it, especially as students.

Without complaining too much, it’s hard enough on college students, or any person for that matter, to achieve their ultimate dream or aspiration. A lot of us are unsure what we’re going to be doing after college, and now a pandemic? If it’s too difficult to predict what tomorrow’s going to be like, how can we predict what our careers, dreams, and lives are going to entail in a few years?

Despite my usual pessimistic demeanor, I honestly believe there will be a silver lining from this. From my perspective, the pandemic is making me realize how precious time is, and how it’s useless to waste it. Once this is over, a lot of us are going to chase after whatever goal or dream we have because we all have a newfound understanding of how getting a “safe-job” isn’t as safe as we might’ve thought.

For example, my brother is an accountant, and 80% of his workplace got fired. An accountant is about the safest job a person can get, but how many accountants had dreams of opening their own business? Or becoming writers, artists, or musicians? Why waste our valuable time on something that can be lost instantaneously?

Yes, a pandemic is a once in a lifetime experience, but it’s better to say at least I tried than to play the what-if game. Don’t get me wrong, some people might quit their primary aspiration because of this pandemic. Still, I honestly believe the majority of people are realizing how useless it is to procrastinate and not do what they love doing.

There’s a reason a renaissance came after the bubonic plague in the 1300s. Not to sound like a total corn-fest, but we only live once, so we might as well try our hardest to do whatever it is we want to do.

I originally wrote this for my school’s blog here.