I do not know if it was an incident, but Covid 19 and the pandemic. These two completely interrupted my learning and high school experience. So much happened in such a short period and so fast. When the virus developed into an emergency-level threat, the government took action to shut down New York to reduce the pace the virus was spreading at. The hospitals filled with patients with covid, which left people with non-covid problems such as back pain, sore throats, and pain in a particular area forced to stay in their homes with whatever pain they had because the hospital could not attend to them. Schools were heavily affected in such a big way, causing students and teachers to transition to something never used before, which was zoom. Students were so distracted with covid that doing online work/school was difficult, and learning was not the same.
The pandemic heavily affected me in ways I thought were possible. I thought the world would end since that is what the news and the media were spreading worldwide. I was beginning the 11th grade when the pandemic started and only experienced a little percent. I did not have school in mind at the time. All I thought about was ways to protect my family and myself from covid. Ways I Protected or helped reduce covid in my house were by cleaning every day, wearing masks when we had to go outside to buy groceries at 6 feet distance, and wearing gloves to prevent any chance of getting Covid. My family and close friends were my motivated me in a heavy way by telling me about their ups and down in life, and we have to keep fighting through those ups and downs. Things like we are close to graduating, and giving up now, don’t seem right. Those words helped me in significant ways and created a light inside of me that motivated me to stay on track with school, even with a computer and not in a classroom.
The pandemic showed me the importance of learning in person and having a teacher explain what you’re learning and how unprepared many people are without their jobs. I realized that many people, after two to three weeks without employment. Life became difficult throughout the pandemic. Another thing I have learned is that if it were not for the government assisting many throughout the pandemic with stimulus checks and pausing rent payments, most people who live paycheck to paycheck would not have survived this. Even though covid 19 was a virus, this virus affected a specific type of social class: the low-class and middle-low-class people. These people lived in tiny apartments where the rule of 6 feet distance was not allowed because of their tiny and non-spacious environment. Low class and middle class both had similar problems: they had a hard time being unemployed, having non-spacious apartments to follow the covid protocol, which was 6 feet. In addition, the online class was challenging for the low and middle class since parents from his classes could not afford laptops or tablets for their children. The high-class people were wonderful throughout this pandemic because they had spacious housing where they could follow the covid protocol. They did not have people around them since many high-class people do not live in the crowded city since they have houses far away from the city and people. The high class was also fine throughout online school since they could afford the computers and tablets.Â
Change is something that is either going to be liked or is either going to be hated by many. Covid 19, which caused the pandemic was something never seen before. People cannot go outside because of the fear of getting the virus. Change is excellent not because it teaches us to adapt to new things we have not experienced before but because it is something that helps us get out of our comfort zone. Being in our comfort zone reduces the number of things we need to get done. Being in a comfort zone prevents you from improving. It stops you from achieving all the things you are capable of achieving. The pandemic helped many people change our mentality, causing many great things.
For me, my experience with Can was insane. I was at a point where I thought the world was going to end before I could even get married or have kids. I was at a point of my life where I thought I would never get, which was to have slight depression because, in my mind, I had the idea that I was never going to see my family again, never travel again, never eat my grandmas’ food, and never play with my friends in the park. Thank God this has ended because it sure lasted a long time. Also, Covid taught me that I need to value my family more, don’t be afraid in life to achieve the things I want, love myself before I can love anybody else, and know that the moon is not the limit. It goes further and beyond.
