Beginning:
Quarantine, no toilet paper, and boredom, oh my! These three things have been a big part of the conversation with the global pandemic of the Coronavirus. The virus originated in China, and now has been spread to many other places like Italy and America, causing either state or national emergencies. I am from Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which, as of today, has been issued a “Stay at Home” order from Governor Wolf that will be starting at 8pm. The residents of the area must stay home unless someone’s life depends on leaving. My parents and I both decided it was best for me to come back to State College after spring break though, due to some of my traveling, so I could keep them, myself and my grandfather safe. So now, my family is stuck is Delaware County with a fair amount of cases, while I am here in State College, able to still go outside, with only two cases.
Middle:
The Coronavirus was really starting to take off in other countries, getting people that were visiting the already infested country, sick, allowing them to bringing it back to where they were originally from, spreading the virus more, at the same exact time Penn State was going into spring break. Everyone on campus was tired of doing school work at this point, so it kind of seemed to be a joke. No one really understood the severity of the virus, so nobody was cancelling any of their travel plans for the break, including myself.
So, when my last class got out, my boyfriend and I drove from State College to Boston, MA. When we were about 45 minutes away from the city, we got an alert that there were 30 plus people being evacuated from a hotel in the middle of a city because three people in that group were tested positive for the virus. It was kind of scary to read, but we thought since the people were being put into quarantine. We went about our trip, doing all of the touristy things and really exploring every inch of the whole city. It wasn’t until the city declared that it was in a state of emergency that it had an effect on us. Since I was 7 hours away from my family, I didn’t want to end up getting stuck in the state if they were to shut it down during the emergency, so I made my boyfriend drive us home that next morning.
My boyfriend and I at a Bruins game the day before Boston went into a state of emergency.
The day we returned back to PA, we met my parents in Montgomery County, PA. The county that was declared the to be the epicenter of Pennsylvania for Coronavirus. I was starting to have a feeling of not being able to get away or escape any of the virus. It felt as though it was lingering over my shoulder 24/7. My own county only had one case in that time though, so my mom made my go out and do all the normal, daily things with her so I wouldn’t start over reacting like the other people social media. I think going out to see all of the empty stores didn’t help me very much, but it did help me to have continual human interaction.
End:
Now that I am in State College with only two cases of Coronavirus and quarantined to my apartment with one of my roommates, I can’t help but feel just a little more protected. This has been a really weird and tough time for many, and I think it has been able to show me more about myself.
I am someone who likes to have control over every single thing in my life, and when something goes out of line, it can make me feel out of whack for a whole day. This has been one of the biggest things that has disrupted my control over my life. It has been very stressful for me, but at the same time, it has allowed me to relax and go with the flow. I still have to remind myself every morning to go with the flow, but it has been very eye opening. It has let me appreciate different aspects of each day and for that, I am grateful.
Stemming from that, I have been feeling bad about talking about or trying to relate myself to the Coronavirus. Since it hasn’t had any personal affects to me or my family and the only problem I’ve been having is feeling out of control, I felt as though I can’t have a real say on the topic. Feeling this way though made me realize that, no matter what, my feelings are always valid. I shouldn’t have to shut off my own feelings because just because I think my I have less of an affect from this than someone else. This is a global pandemic, everybody is going to be effected in one way or another. We are all in this together.
