I remember walking downtown in State College with my best friend and we were joking about being sick so we wouldn’t have to go to our classes that day. He told me about the Coronavirus in China and I had no idea what he was talking about. He told me that it was a serious issue that was sweeping the Eastern part of the world and I remember suppressing it into the back of my mind and thinking “It doesn’t affect us so why should I bother.” This was in January.
Flash forward a month later and I was talking to another one of my friends who was studying abroad in Barcelona. He told me that he was waiting for the call to be sent home because of this virus. I still didn’t believe it and thought to myself that it would eventually blow over and there would be no way him or other abroad students would have to be sent home. This was in the beginning of February.
The news started to cover more and more cases and now the virus was spreading everywhere. Study abroad kids were being sent home left and right and borders were starting to close. Italy was practically in ruin. My mother called me and started to worry for what was going to happen in the US and I assured her that we would be okay and that this was probably just being blown out of proportion. This was the day before I left to go on Spring break March 5th, 2020.
The next day I went on Spring break with 11 of my friends and we didn’t think too much about this virus because we were focused on having fun for the week. But then halfway through,we were all notified of classes being held remotely until the beginning of April. The room fell silent and we all realized that were probably underestimating the severity of what was going on. We got back from spring break a few days later and State College was a ghost town like I’ve never seen it before. I spent the next few days arguing with my mother back and forth about having to come home because I kept assuring her that classes would start up again and we would all be fine. This was one week ago.
Now, as I sit in my house writing this class blog, my mind is scrambled. I was in denial of a force that was much bigger than I expected it to be. Left and right cases are arising and this virus is everywhere. It didn’t just sweep the nation but it swept the globe. I’ve read stories about illnesses like the Yellow Fever or the Black Plague but it was always something that was in my history books as a kid. Never in my lifetime did I think I would experience something like this. It makes me wonder how long it will take before I’m allowed outside again or when our borders will reopen.
My mother is also not the best person to be in quarantine with because she panics very quickly. We are not allowed to touch any of our food, go outside, get supplies from Walmart or even play cards because she is so worried. I stand on my balcony and watch the sunset to feel sane because I feel like this Pandemic is going to last much longer than everyone expects and I’m worried for the aftermath. It is something that grows more and more everyday making us pray for when we can go back to our normal lives. I wish I could walk past Old Main or see my friends from school but unfortunately all I can do is wait. But if I learned anything throughout all of this, I learned that I will never underestimate the power of an illness and I will never make jokes about being sick so I can miss class. Because I would do anything to be sitting in an in person class at Penn State right now.
