We aren't ready to go back to school.

Back to school jitters are always running high around this time but this year, those nerves are manifesting on a much different scale. While the normal concerns include scheduling, buying books, and getting settled or re-settled on campus, the complications of COVID-19 on top of the continued hate crimes in the U.S. have made this back to school season especially more anxiety-provoking.

While school administrators, professors and students alike are rushing to get us back into the classroom, many of our physical, mental, emotional and social needs are simply not being met.

As I walked into my first in-person lecture, I was immediately struck with a burst of anxiety. Everyone was wearing a mask, there were hand sanitization stations outside each room, seats marked off to ensure social distancing and a huge lecture hall with 10 people scattered throughout. Everything about the situation was overwhelming to me, my peers, and professors.

While we are all starting to understand new guidelines, safety precautions and procedures, we are also expected to come to school ready to focus, learn and participate in courses. Aside from school, students are still figuring out how we can get involved in clubs, see our friends and for first-year students, make friends in the first place. And while this is a learning opportunity for all of us, back to school is already an extremely stressful and nerve-racking experience without the added concerns.

Luckily, I attend Syracuse University which I feel has been extremely proactive and has taken all the steps to ensure the physical health of the students and faculty on campus. This is partly to thanks to our location in New York State which has a strict quarantine, mask mandate and social distance requirements that make it much easier for the University to enforce. I cannot begin to imagine the fear of my peers attending schools who are not taking things as seriously are feeling.

Despite all the testing and precautionary measures being put in place to keep us physically safe, mental health and emotional well-being are not as much of a priority. When we were swiftly moved online last semester, my professors often checked-in to see how we were doing. All communications started with “I hope you are well,” and while at that moment it seemed like overkill, it was reassuring to know that other people were empathetic to others. The reality of this back to school season is that many students are still struggling emotionally, physically and financially but the “how are you doing” check-ins are few to none.

For some reason, we are all expected to be moved on, to be ready for school and to be fully focused as students. The sentiment I am getting from the expectations of this school year is that we all have to move on eventually. And while I truly believe that there is value in a virtual or hybrid learning environment, students are still worried, scared, stuck, and generally dealing with issues bigger than starting school.

Aside from COVID and a new school year, we as students are living with constant fear, sadness and anger that comes with the racial and civil injustices that continue to plague the United States. Our world as we know it is falling apart and yet we are told to sweep it under the rug and to move on.

For many students, attending school may be a convenient distraction from the harsh realities of our world today but for others including myself, the effects of the pandemic and the constant hate that plagues America is simply too much to focus on school.

So, what do we do? Do we do just let it build up? Do we move on? I don’t have the exact answer but I do know that we cannot just ignore the atrocities occurring in our society today. At the minimum, we can continue to check-up on our loved ones. We can vote in November. We can ask a stranger how they are doing and genuinely mean it. What we need now more than ever is empathy. We cannot be complacent and we cannot continue our lives and educations as if everything is okay because it is not and we, as humans, and as a nation are hurting.