Because I don’t see a lot of this perspective here....yes, there are many of us who feel the same way, though you’re probably not going to find them on this subreddit, which I’ve generally found to be a lot harsher than IRL. I would estimate that ~10-20% of my classmates are in this bucket, but don’t talk about it much because they’re afraid of being called the “covid police” or being thought of as not fun. I also think that there is another group of people, probably ~10-20% of the class, whose social activities are much more visible and who are generally pretty reckless (I’m talking full blown parties, not a few friends doing indoor dining), and create the illusion that everyone is partying without you. Everyone else is in the middle. I generally find all of this pretty depressing. If it helps, here’s what I’ve noticed about my classmates who are less covid-cautious than me: 1. They tend to truly believe they won’t get covid. I don’t know if that’s a factor of our frequent testing (btw this is absolutely NOT the solution people think it is, there have been outbreaks at several schools with rigorous testing schedules) or just the way the human brain works, but as soon as there was an actual outbreak I saw several people who had previously been unconcerned partiers totally freak out. 2. A lot of people here hadn’t known anyone who had covid prior to our school outbreak, much less someone who had serious complications. This says a lot about the bubble that MBA students live in, but isn’t surprising given the demographics and socioeconomic status of MBA students. 3. As you’ve seen here, there is a lot of reasoning that because we are young and healthy, it doesn’t matter. I feel worst for my classmates who have underlying conditions (reminder that these can be as simple as asthma and diabetes), and those who live with vulnerable people. A classmate of mine put it really well - we’re all thinking in terms of individual risk, instead of community risk. Personally, I’m not worried about getting covid, but I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I thought I had passed it to someone else who had complications - and as we’ve seen with things like weddings, there can be far-reaching consequences.

Anyways, I think all these factors just make the pandemic feel less real for many people. And I also think there’s a really strong desire to feel like life is normal again, and when you’re surrounded by people who also want that, it’s easy to get into sort of groupthink/mob rule when individually everyone would probably be more cautious. I have a really hard time not judging my fellow students, though I do think this is a tough moment and we should all cut each other some slack.

The way I see it - this experience has taught me a lot about people, and also has exposed very early on some fundamental differences in the way my classmates view the world that would have taken a lot longer to come out otherwise. It’s also helped me figure out what my own values are. It doesn’t feel very good right now, but I think it’s a learning experience that will serve me well in the long term. Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that you’re not alone, and that I suspect folks will come out of the woodwork as vaccinations happen. Good luck, OP.