Going into my freshman year, I didn’t expect to become too involved at the university due to COVID-19 restrictions and other anxieties that first come with going to college. Instead, I was given the opportunity to become a Gamecock Guide, where I got to create content for USC’s social media platforms and make check-in calls for students in quarantine. As a Gamecock Guide, I got to capture how I and the rest of USC functioned through such an unusual year. COVID-19 completely changed our perspective on what college was going to look like.

I took my opportunity and got both doses of the vaccine as soon as they became available. Over the last few months, it’s been so good to see how the world is slowly yet surely making its way back to what we once knew as normal. Getting vaccinated is the only way to get back to said normal. COVID-19 is still present, and students should take advantage of the vaccine, if not for themselves, for everyone else.