Text
Joyce 1
Reilly Joyce
SCSM, Delahanty
22 October 2020
My Life With Covid
On March 11th of 2020, my high school announced that there was going to be one week
off of school due to the hype surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. On that day, I recorded a
video of myself explaining my feelings about the situation. I explained that I was not concerned
and that I thought it would all blow over within the week and everything would go back to
normal. As days went by, I continued to discredit the severity of the situation. Eventually my
hopes of a quick turn diminished and the reality of the situation set in. The next few months of
my life were going to be like no other I had ever experienced.
It was officially my last day of highschool. I didn’t want to be in that place ever, but that
day I just couldn’t believe that I didn’t have the decision to come back on Monday. I had to start
an online class which for me, wasn’t all that bad. The final project every senior has to do, I
didn't. Every assignment that they said was going to be graded, I didn’t do. My highschool only
took the grades of my first three quarters of the year so I was very nonchalant towards school
when we started remote learning. In my highschool career it wasnt that I liked school, however I
liked being there. Seeing my friends and messing around all day was something that I loved and
when I left school it was the start of me missing out on things because of this absurd pandemic. I
realized that the kids who I saw in school but didn’t usually hangout with, I would probably
never see again.Thoughts like these plagued my brain over the coming months and this was the
first of many I would have to overcome. No more school also meant no prom, no graduation and
Joyce 2
most importantly for me no senior season of high school baseball. Instead, I would be sitting in
my mom’s basement eating Cool Ranch Doritos and binge watching the Netflix Original show,
Outer Banks.
Quarantine. The act of isolating yourself from society in order to prevent the spread of a
disease. Something that became a regular thing for the inhabitants of planet Earth in the year
2020. Everybody and their mother was hunkered down in their house, leaving only for essential
activities such as grocery shopping for months on end. Non-essential activities were monitored
and shut down. One thing I will never forget was when me and a few of my friends began to start
playing pickup basketball at a local outdoor court. Eventually we were reported to the police and
kicked off the court as well as being threatened with fines and detainment if we did not comply
with the officers. We were stuck. Even something as seemingly harmless as playing 3v3
basketball was almost considered criminal. All there was left to do was go back to our houses
and drown ourselves in our Xbox’s and Iphones. This kind of containment also caused lots of
stress on my family. Four college aged men, along with 2 parents in the process of a divorce and
a preadolescent, annoying 12 year old, all trapped under one roof. 2020 was also the first year in
my entire life that we did not travel to my Grandparents house or go to church for Easter
festivities. It was chaos and everyone drove everyone insane.
To make every and all matters worse, face masks became a requirement any time one was
to leave their house. Not only are the masks uncomfortable but there is extreme question on how
worth it, it even is to wear them. Sometimes, you would forget to grab a mask before leaving the
house and not realize until you arrive at your destination. Next thing you know, you are walking
Joyce 3
around the local walmart with a dirty pair of sweatpants that you found in the trunk of your car
tied around your head. When establishments and activities finally did start to open back up to the
public, the requirement of masks made it difficult to breathe. My biggest struggle with the masks
was during my high level soccer practices. As a college level athlete, I participated in high
intensity and cardiovascularly strenuous activities. My abilities were limited considerably due to
the masks despite my relatively strong conditioning.
When I departed for college at the end of the summer, I was expecting for things to get
better but I was met with a rude awakening. It may even be worse. I am now required to wear a
mask on my way to the bathroom, while doing my laundry, while attending classes and just
about any time that I am not in my 10x15 foot dorm room. I have also racked up 150$ worth of
Covid-19 related fines and multiple reflection and apology papers since my arrival to the
Campus of Springfield College. I also find myself doing some sort of assignment related to
Covid-19 at a rate of what seems like every day. This document is proof of that. As mentioned
earlier, I am an athlete at college but you might not even be able to tell due to the fact that
practice gets cancelled every other week due to the most recent outbreak of active cases on
campus. The college experience has been completely altered due to the Covid-19 Virus.
It is now October and my original hopes of the virus scare blowing over quickly have
completely and utterly diminished. I have no idea what the future holds in terms of the virus and
at this current point in time but I am very unhopeful. I am yet to contract the virus but it has still
affected almost every aspect of my life including my mental,social, and physical health as well
as my family life, my religion, my personal life, my comfort and much more.
Reilly Joyce
SCSM, Delahanty
22 October 2020
My Life With Covid
On March 11th of 2020, my high school announced that there was going to be one week
off of school due to the hype surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. On that day, I recorded a
video of myself explaining my feelings about the situation. I explained that I was not concerned
and that I thought it would all blow over within the week and everything would go back to
normal. As days went by, I continued to discredit the severity of the situation. Eventually my
hopes of a quick turn diminished and the reality of the situation set in. The next few months of
my life were going to be like no other I had ever experienced.
It was officially my last day of highschool. I didn’t want to be in that place ever, but that
day I just couldn’t believe that I didn’t have the decision to come back on Monday. I had to start
an online class which for me, wasn’t all that bad. The final project every senior has to do, I
didn't. Every assignment that they said was going to be graded, I didn’t do. My highschool only
took the grades of my first three quarters of the year so I was very nonchalant towards school
when we started remote learning. In my highschool career it wasnt that I liked school, however I
liked being there. Seeing my friends and messing around all day was something that I loved and
when I left school it was the start of me missing out on things because of this absurd pandemic. I
realized that the kids who I saw in school but didn’t usually hangout with, I would probably
never see again.Thoughts like these plagued my brain over the coming months and this was the
first of many I would have to overcome. No more school also meant no prom, no graduation and
Joyce 2
most importantly for me no senior season of high school baseball. Instead, I would be sitting in
my mom’s basement eating Cool Ranch Doritos and binge watching the Netflix Original show,
Outer Banks.
Quarantine. The act of isolating yourself from society in order to prevent the spread of a
disease. Something that became a regular thing for the inhabitants of planet Earth in the year
2020. Everybody and their mother was hunkered down in their house, leaving only for essential
activities such as grocery shopping for months on end. Non-essential activities were monitored
and shut down. One thing I will never forget was when me and a few of my friends began to start
playing pickup basketball at a local outdoor court. Eventually we were reported to the police and
kicked off the court as well as being threatened with fines and detainment if we did not comply
with the officers. We were stuck. Even something as seemingly harmless as playing 3v3
basketball was almost considered criminal. All there was left to do was go back to our houses
and drown ourselves in our Xbox’s and Iphones. This kind of containment also caused lots of
stress on my family. Four college aged men, along with 2 parents in the process of a divorce and
a preadolescent, annoying 12 year old, all trapped under one roof. 2020 was also the first year in
my entire life that we did not travel to my Grandparents house or go to church for Easter
festivities. It was chaos and everyone drove everyone insane.
To make every and all matters worse, face masks became a requirement any time one was
to leave their house. Not only are the masks uncomfortable but there is extreme question on how
worth it, it even is to wear them. Sometimes, you would forget to grab a mask before leaving the
house and not realize until you arrive at your destination. Next thing you know, you are walking
Joyce 3
around the local walmart with a dirty pair of sweatpants that you found in the trunk of your car
tied around your head. When establishments and activities finally did start to open back up to the
public, the requirement of masks made it difficult to breathe. My biggest struggle with the masks
was during my high level soccer practices. As a college level athlete, I participated in high
intensity and cardiovascularly strenuous activities. My abilities were limited considerably due to
the masks despite my relatively strong conditioning.
When I departed for college at the end of the summer, I was expecting for things to get
better but I was met with a rude awakening. It may even be worse. I am now required to wear a
mask on my way to the bathroom, while doing my laundry, while attending classes and just
about any time that I am not in my 10x15 foot dorm room. I have also racked up 150$ worth of
Covid-19 related fines and multiple reflection and apology papers since my arrival to the
Campus of Springfield College. I also find myself doing some sort of assignment related to
Covid-19 at a rate of what seems like every day. This document is proof of that. As mentioned
earlier, I am an athlete at college but you might not even be able to tell due to the fact that
practice gets cancelled every other week due to the most recent outbreak of active cases on
campus. The college experience has been completely altered due to the Covid-19 Virus.
It is now October and my original hopes of the virus scare blowing over quickly have
completely and utterly diminished. I have no idea what the future holds in terms of the virus and
at this current point in time but I am very unhopeful. I am yet to contract the virus but it has still
affected almost every aspect of my life including my mental,social, and physical health as well
as my family life, my religion, my personal life, my comfort and much more.