Beginning:
Finishing up the last couple months of my sophomore year, the “best” year, the last thing I was expecting was to finish the year out at home on Long Island. In February of 2020, I was hearing about the corona virus and me and my family were staying updated by watching the news and paying attention to social media. During spring break, March 7th-14, the corona virus was getting a lot more serious with students getting sent home from traveling abroad and hearing there was going to be a possible travel band. My friends, family and I were scared we were going to get stuck in Mexico due to how serious it was getting, but luckily we were able to make it home. Before spring break my friends and I weren’t completely aware of the severity of this virus and thought it would be something like the flu, but once I got home to Long Island and went to the grocery store I saw how badly this was getting. To buy eggs, milk, toilet paper, paper towels, daily groceries were hard to find and lines were wrapping around the stores. People were buying things in bulk due to COVID-19 because of how serious it was getting of people needing to stay in their homes.
This was taken earlier in the week at Stop and Shop.
Middle
First, when I had gotten the text that I was going to be home until April 6th I knew that we would be home for the rest of the semester after seeing how everyone was acting with this virus. I quickly packed up my room at State College and came home. As more days were passing by at home, my family and I had the news on every morning. There were constantly more cases, more deaths, and more rules to follow to help lessen the spread of COVID-19. The Trump administration advised people to work from home, don’t leave your house unless going to the pharmacy or grocery store, and to not be with a group of people over 10. My family owns a restaurant so my dad can’t really work from home. All restaurants are only to take out orders and have to be closed by 8pm. My restaurant does not do take out and stays open a lot later, but because of this they changed. My dad realized a lot less people are taking out than expected because so many people don’t want to leave their homes. From being home for some time now and doing school work online I realized some good and bad things. I like Zoom online, it’s really good for social distancing and a lot more flexible. I found myself enjoying class lectures more, but being at home is also very distracting for my studies. The libraries are not open for me to go to when doing homework so I am stuck in my home, but at school, I have my friends motivating me to study and do work together. Furthermore, my professors have made Zoom online a very good experience and are trying really hard to help the students who are struggling. Although I wish I could have been experiencing the last couple months of my sophomore year, COVID-19 has taught me to be patient and with time things will get better.
Ending
Another lesson I have learned throughout this experience, and still learning, is to not take things for granted. I often find myself taking time for granted, and not living in the moment. Looking back on my sophomore year I wish I lived in the moment more and didn’t take that time for granted. I am lucky I am not a senior that just got their last year taken away from them. I also learned to not take my health for granted as so many people right now are suffering with COVID-19 or watching their loved ones suffer.