Text
Briana Tovar
When COVID-19 first started to affect the United States I remember in class checking the
John Hopkins tracking map when there were only a couple hundred cases here. Professor
Zagarins at the time told our class this virus had the potential to seriously affect the rest of our
semester, but we all thought that was crazy. Soon though the cases went from hundreds to
thousands, to tens of thousands, and now hundreds of thousands. When we saw the cases
increasing so fast class times started to be filled with only questions about COVID-19 and what
this meant for us. The night they announced we would have an extended spring break I realized
how serious this was and the next day I packed up my entire dorm. They did not say we wouldn’t
be returning after spring break yet but I live all the way in Arizona and I knew if we did not
come back there would be no way for me to come and pack my things, so I had to prepare for the
worst, which ended up being the outcome. I couldn’t even be sad or scared because I was so
overwhelmed and stressed over packing and midterms. From the night we found out about the
extended spring break till the next day when I boarded my airplane I had not slept, took two
midterms and packed everything I had to move back across the country. Once I was home things
got much worse with the virus and it officially became a nationwide pandemic. It took some
adjusting to doing work at home but both my parents were still working which minimized
distractions. My body was also still on east coast time so I was waking up three hours earlier
than I normally would have and this was extremely beneficial to my mental health and be as
productive in the day as I could given the circumstances. I think this pandemic has taught me
how to make the best out of whatever you are given and being quarantine is hard yes, but if you
give yourself a plan for each day and get into a routine it will be much more doable than you
might think. Now that classes have ended it is a little harder to fill my day and keep busy but as
of now the biggest difficulty is finding a job, just like everyone else I am sure. Things at home
are still almost all closed and what is open is fully employed basically everywhere. I think out of
this pandemic though we as a country will come out stronger, and hopefully wiser.
One thing I noticed here at home is how easy it is to get a test in comparison to other
states, this might be because we have a lot less cases per capita and maybe we have not hit our
peak yet, but I feel as if we have all needed resources available here. One thing that is
disappointing throughout this time is the amount of people who truly just don’t care about the
pandemic and aren’t taking it seriously. These people I feel are the ones that are going to prolong
the reopening and cause for a potential second peak. My biggest fear in that would be that we are
not able to return in the fall. I chose Springfield because of all it has on campus to offer and the
type of environment it is and it would be devastating if we could not return because of others
negligence in helping flatten the curve. With that being said I am also fearful of the return in fall
and what that will mean for spread of COVID-19. I believe this pandemic will affect the nations
population for years to come in the way we interact with others and how seriously we take our
health. I believe some have found this to be dramatic and will not change or do not care but I do
not believe that is the majority. I hope everyone was able to take something meaningful and
valuable from these hard times and hopefully make something positive come out of it.
When COVID-19 first started to affect the United States I remember in class checking the
John Hopkins tracking map when there were only a couple hundred cases here. Professor
Zagarins at the time told our class this virus had the potential to seriously affect the rest of our
semester, but we all thought that was crazy. Soon though the cases went from hundreds to
thousands, to tens of thousands, and now hundreds of thousands. When we saw the cases
increasing so fast class times started to be filled with only questions about COVID-19 and what
this meant for us. The night they announced we would have an extended spring break I realized
how serious this was and the next day I packed up my entire dorm. They did not say we wouldn’t
be returning after spring break yet but I live all the way in Arizona and I knew if we did not
come back there would be no way for me to come and pack my things, so I had to prepare for the
worst, which ended up being the outcome. I couldn’t even be sad or scared because I was so
overwhelmed and stressed over packing and midterms. From the night we found out about the
extended spring break till the next day when I boarded my airplane I had not slept, took two
midterms and packed everything I had to move back across the country. Once I was home things
got much worse with the virus and it officially became a nationwide pandemic. It took some
adjusting to doing work at home but both my parents were still working which minimized
distractions. My body was also still on east coast time so I was waking up three hours earlier
than I normally would have and this was extremely beneficial to my mental health and be as
productive in the day as I could given the circumstances. I think this pandemic has taught me
how to make the best out of whatever you are given and being quarantine is hard yes, but if you
give yourself a plan for each day and get into a routine it will be much more doable than you
might think. Now that classes have ended it is a little harder to fill my day and keep busy but as
of now the biggest difficulty is finding a job, just like everyone else I am sure. Things at home
are still almost all closed and what is open is fully employed basically everywhere. I think out of
this pandemic though we as a country will come out stronger, and hopefully wiser.
One thing I noticed here at home is how easy it is to get a test in comparison to other
states, this might be because we have a lot less cases per capita and maybe we have not hit our
peak yet, but I feel as if we have all needed resources available here. One thing that is
disappointing throughout this time is the amount of people who truly just don’t care about the
pandemic and aren’t taking it seriously. These people I feel are the ones that are going to prolong
the reopening and cause for a potential second peak. My biggest fear in that would be that we are
not able to return in the fall. I chose Springfield because of all it has on campus to offer and the
type of environment it is and it would be devastating if we could not return because of others
negligence in helping flatten the curve. With that being said I am also fearful of the return in fall
and what that will mean for spread of COVID-19. I believe this pandemic will affect the nations
population for years to come in the way we interact with others and how seriously we take our
health. I believe some have found this to be dramatic and will not change or do not care but I do
not believe that is the majority. I hope everyone was able to take something meaningful and
valuable from these hard times and hopefully make something positive come out of it.