Beginning:
Corona Virus, or COVID-19, has been the talk of 2020. The virus, which originated in China has now spread across the world, becoming a global pandemic, and for many countries a national emergency. In the United States today, there are 40,773 cases according to World O Meters. Of those cases, 644 are in my home state of Pennsylvania, according to Pennsylvania’s Department of Health. I am a resident of Dauphin County, which now has their first confirmed case, as of this weekend. This virus is spreading like wildfire and is causing people around the world immense trouble.
Middle:
When I first began to hear about Corona Virus, I wasn’t extremely alarmed. I knew it wasn’t in the United States yet, which meant it wasn’t going to directly affect my life. As it began to spread more across other countries, still not the United States, I began to worry a bit more. I am a junior, which means a lot of my peers were studying abroad this semester, some of them being my dear friends. Still, I wasn’t hearing much about Barcelona or Florence, so Corona Virus still wasn’t completely on my radar. I continued about my life as usual.
In the beginning of January, I had planned my spring break trip to Florence to visit one of my best friends. We were going to be in Florence and then fly to Dublin the weekend before Saint Patrick’s Day. A month or so went by, and we still hadn’t heard of anything horrific in Italy. In what seemed to be 24 hours, Corona Virus spread to Italy and took over the country. The weekend prior to me leaving for Florence, I went home to Harrisburg, PA to pack and prepare. I went to bed Friday night having spoken to my friend who I was going to be visiting, and she reassured me that her professors weren’t concerned yet, they still had class, and everything seemed to be normal. By the time I had woken up Saturday, she found out she was being sent home. And just like that, my spring break plans to travel to Europe were cancelled. The trip of a lifetime it would have been. This was my first personal experience with the Corona Virus.
As life went on, Corona was growing and spreading, and I started to hear about it appearing in the United States. As the talk continued, I began to get more worried and curious what the future would hold. As I packed up for spring break, there was talk of our break being extended because of Corona, but I never knew what to believe. So, we went home for break, and I flew to Florida for a week with my friends. When I was in Florida, we got news that Penn State had moved to remote classes for three weeks. I was disappointed, but relieved that at least we could go back at some point.
End:
Fast forward to a week later, as I am sitting at home with the rest of my family, and we find out that the rest of the semester is online and we will not be returning to Penn State. I was extremely sad and honestly heartbroken. Goodbye junior year. Rather than being in State College with my friends, I am at home with both of my parents who are working from home, my younger sister, who is a freshman at Temple, who is also finishing her semester remotely, and two younger brothers who are in high school and have off school for at least two weeks.
Corona virus has seriously changed the way my town is functioning. We are technically not on full lockdown just yet, but we all suspect that it is coming. In PA, all nonessential businesses are to close, schools are off, and people really should only be leaving their houses for essential things. I have been out of the house a couple times to run to the grocery store to grab some last minute things just in case a lockdown comes. The stores in my town are running out of supplies, as people stock up in preparation. It’s been insane. The worst part in my mind, is that all of this is indefinite. We don’t know when life will return to normal.
In the grand scheme of things, my loved ones and I are healthy and have the resources we need to survive this pandemic. There are thousands of people who are not in this position. This virus has taught me to be grateful for what I have.
This was the last picture I took while on Spring Break prior to learning that PSU was going to move to remote classes, which was one of my first personal life changes due to Corona Virus.
Citations:
“Coronavirus in Pennsylvania.” Department of Health, 23 Mar. 2020, www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Coronavirus.aspx.
“ United States: Coronavirus Cases.” Worldometer, 23 Mar. 2020, www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/us/.