When Covid hit i was 17, i'm italian and we had it pretty rough. After the lockdown i was left with anxiety problems i never suffered before. The last year of high school was like a fever dream, we would do like 2 weeks of school in person and 2 online and the rules changed constantly. Social interactions as i knew them before, in school and outside, changed and became more difficult. The fact that you lose a lot of friends due to everyone going to different cities to study for university didnt help either, i was basically alone for the first time in my life.

To cut it short, with highs and lows, i feel sometimes like i'm not supposed to deal with grown-up problems. Like i missed part of my life. I mean, when you enter high school youre basically still a kid and the years where you kinda are more mature are the exact ones i spent dealing with covid and its consequences. Could be because the first high school years were under my expectations and i counted on the last ones to give my youth a turn, and that's why i feel i got robbed but idk.

In general its like i arrived where i currently am (last years of uni, then who knows maybe i'll have to start working) too much fast. Like i speeded all my way in some of the best years of my life. Maybe its not totally because of covid but still, it feels like i found myself at a point far too close to the end of my youth (i mean the moment you still study and are much more free than when you will be working) and looking back i struggle to see how i ended up here.

Just a thought i had for some time, curious to see if everyone feel the same.

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[–] 16 points 2 months ago (1 child)

I don't know how much "childhood" anyone is supposed to get. I think different people get different amounts.

If you got to 17 without experiencing severe trauma, you're pretty lucky. There are plenty of people who didn't need COVID to screw up their youth.

last years of uni, then who knows maybe i'll have to start working

Maybe? Hell, you still seem pretty damn lucky if you can say maybe.

I graduated decades before college, and there was absolutely no question that I had to get a job and start working. My daughter graduated college in January, and within a month she was working and responsible for her life.

So, that's the prick's point of view: You got 17 years. Be grateful for that and move on. Do what you need to do to get over it. You're an adult. Be one.

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  • [–] [S] 7 points 2 months ago

    Well yeah of course, i recognise im very lucky compared to others, i don't want to pass the idea that i think im in the worst place i could be and neither i write this in hope to get others to feel sorry for me. I was just putting my thoughts outside of my head.

    About the work part, i probably gave the wrong idea. It's not like im rich or smth that i can think of not working. I would like to continue to stay in university and get a Phd and maybe who know become a professor, but for my subject of study, which is underfunded compared to STEM, and in Italy in general it's hard to get accepted if you don't get a little "help" from a professor. If i cant pursue in this career id have to search for another kind of employment, and i guarantee you, here in Italy they aren't anxious to give a job to somebody fresh out of uni which hasnt graduated in engineering or IT. Thats want i meant with "i'll have to start working".

    Anyways yeah you are right, i was lucky thats, for sure. I try my best to do what i think is better for my life, maybe im just nostalgic.

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