UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Coronavirus pandemic has greatly impacted people from all over the world within the past two years. High school and college students were one group hit particularly hard during this time. From no longer being able to attend in person classes and missing major events in their school careers, students were forced to modify their routines.
Ahd Hussein, a sophomore marketing major at Penn State University, was one of these students. Hussein was faced with the challenge of altering her school routine while simultaneously battling an especially brutal case of Covid-19.
She first started developing covid-like symptoms in November of 2020 during her first-year of college.
“I got really sick,” Hussein said. “I had to go to the hospital two times and even after I didn’t have Covid anymore, I still had symptoms and I had a lot of health conditions.”
Hussein went to the hospital for shortness of breath, where she was told by doctors that she had developed blood clots, pneumonia, pericarditis, anemia, and asthma.
“It was a lot at once that I was getting treated for, which is another reason why I decided to stay home second semester of my freshman year,” said Hussein.
The virus effected her academic studies as well as her physical health.
“Usually I’m very on top of my homework and my academics, but with Covid, when it hit, it was very challenging for me to perform as well as I usually do. That was a very hard setback for me,” said Hussein.
Ahd Hussein doing homework on her laptop.
With covid guidelines recently being lifted, Hussein says she plans on participating in as much as she can to make up for the missed opportunities from her freshman year.
“I’m trying to do as much as possible sophomore year. I’m trying to get involved in a lot of events or clubs, and you know, do more classes that I can actually go to to get that experience.”
Hussein has one message for fellow classmates and students at other universities– put yourself out there and get involved.