We have finally reached the final week of a long and stressful semester. I have said this time and time again, but this school year was especially tough on all of us.

This school year, like every other year, came with all the usual stressors: working on overwhelming assignments, dealing with familial responsibilities, paying for tuition, etc.

This school year, unlike any other year, those hardships were amplified by the pandemic and all the problems that came with that: trying not to catch COVID, being unable to see loved ones, etc.

Like everyone else, this school year hit me hard.

I came into this school year hopeful and optimistic. I was excited to live on campus, write for the Daily Eastern News, work alongside my friends in the LASO executive board as the secretary and of course learn all there is to know about writing from my professors and peers.

I am leaving this school year more burnt out than ever. After a school year of not taking classes in person, not seeing my friends or family often and not having any actual breaks, I lost all my motivation.

My lack of motivation caused me to go weeks at a time without completing any assignments and now I’m suffering the consequences of that.

But I’m determined to push through and catch up, because I am more ready than ever to go home and have a long, relaxing summer.

I plan on treating myself by having the most fun summer ever, or as fun as it can be indoors. (I still want to protect myself and my family from COVID, and that means staying home.)

But that doesn’t mean I can’t still have fun. I plan on spending lots of time with my sisters, reading and writing recreationally, and playing the “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” video game that’s waiting for me back home.

Probably what I am most excited for this summer is playing with the Nintendo Switch Lite I recently bought, something I’ve been wanting to buy for a while now.

I never buy myself any gifts, and I thought that after the year I’ve had, it’s the least I deserve.

I think that this summer, my fellow EIU community, you should spend your summer the way you want to.

I urge you to do the things you want (safely, of course), take care of your mental health and take that time to recharge. Hopefully by fall semester, we will be ready and excited to return to campus.

We deserve it, EIU. We deserve it.

Kyara Morales-Rodriguez is a junior English major. She can be reached at 581-2812 or knmoralesrodriguez@eiu.edu.