Text
Devin Haire
HSCI 325
17 May 2020
My COVID Experience
As a health science major, I love learning about past pandemics and epidemics, and
simply illnesses/viruses in general. But I can confidently say I never thought I would experience
one myself in my lifetime. To start, I am lucky to say that my immediate family has not had the
virus, so my situation could definitely be worse. But as a college student, it is hard. In August
of 2019, I moved into my dorm room excited to spend an entire year of school living with my
roommate and hanging out with friends. Little did I know that I would spend most of my second
semester locked in my house, away from my friends, and with the challenge of the online college
experience. If I could go back, there are things I would have done differently while I was at
school. I would have spent more time with my friends, gone to more sports games, and I even
would have gone to more office hours, simply for the fact that the things I once thought of as
nothing super special are now things I wish I was doing.
Since I have been home, the corona virus is always the hot topic of conversation, and
honestly, it's tiring to only hear talk about it. When I first got home from school for the
semester, there were not any cases in my town so it really hadn’t hit me yet. But the minute I
heard that there were 4 confirmed cases in my town, with one being my uncle, it became more of
a reality in my life. A couple weeks later, 4 cases turned into 18, and then 30. Life just seems so
desolate. Parking lots of the mall I always go to are empty. There are much less cars on the road
than there used to be. I truly never thought I would be living during an event that is going to be
marked down in history. I am glad that people are helping stop the spread of the virus by
wearing masks, but it is such a weird feeling to be walking through a grocery store seeing
everyone’s faces covered and people avoiding going within six feet of each other. I have a sister
who is supposed to be graduating high school this year, and my heart truly hurts for her. If this
were to happen last year, I would have been devastated to miss my senior season of softball and
my last highschool memories with my best friends before we all went our separate ways. Like I
said, I could definitely have it worse. But, it does sadden me to have a large portion of my
freshman year taken from me. It saddens me that I can barely see my grandma and my cousins
that I am extremely close with. It saddens me that millions have lost their life around the world
to this virus. 2020 is a year I will never forget, and I will never take my time at school and with
my friends for granted because I now know what it is like to have your normal life taken away
from you. And as life goes on and future generations learn about the time we are going through
right now, I hope that this contribution gives sight into the COVID experience.
HSCI 325
17 May 2020
My COVID Experience
As a health science major, I love learning about past pandemics and epidemics, and
simply illnesses/viruses in general. But I can confidently say I never thought I would experience
one myself in my lifetime. To start, I am lucky to say that my immediate family has not had the
virus, so my situation could definitely be worse. But as a college student, it is hard. In August
of 2019, I moved into my dorm room excited to spend an entire year of school living with my
roommate and hanging out with friends. Little did I know that I would spend most of my second
semester locked in my house, away from my friends, and with the challenge of the online college
experience. If I could go back, there are things I would have done differently while I was at
school. I would have spent more time with my friends, gone to more sports games, and I even
would have gone to more office hours, simply for the fact that the things I once thought of as
nothing super special are now things I wish I was doing.
Since I have been home, the corona virus is always the hot topic of conversation, and
honestly, it's tiring to only hear talk about it. When I first got home from school for the
semester, there were not any cases in my town so it really hadn’t hit me yet. But the minute I
heard that there were 4 confirmed cases in my town, with one being my uncle, it became more of
a reality in my life. A couple weeks later, 4 cases turned into 18, and then 30. Life just seems so
desolate. Parking lots of the mall I always go to are empty. There are much less cars on the road
than there used to be. I truly never thought I would be living during an event that is going to be
marked down in history. I am glad that people are helping stop the spread of the virus by
wearing masks, but it is such a weird feeling to be walking through a grocery store seeing
everyone’s faces covered and people avoiding going within six feet of each other. I have a sister
who is supposed to be graduating high school this year, and my heart truly hurts for her. If this
were to happen last year, I would have been devastated to miss my senior season of softball and
my last highschool memories with my best friends before we all went our separate ways. Like I
said, I could definitely have it worse. But, it does sadden me to have a large portion of my
freshman year taken from me. It saddens me that I can barely see my grandma and my cousins
that I am extremely close with. It saddens me that millions have lost their life around the world
to this virus. 2020 is a year I will never forget, and I will never take my time at school and with
my friends for granted because I now know what it is like to have your normal life taken away
from you. And as life goes on and future generations learn about the time we are going through
right now, I hope that this contribution gives sight into the COVID experience.