Sitting in English on Tuesday March 10, 2020. I receive an email with the subject “IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEETING IN FREDDY HALL TONIGHT!” My mind begins to wander in multiple directions and the words of my professor begin to slur together. Our meeting is at 7:30pm and until then I am left here thinking of a million different possibilities of what this conversation could be about. I get back to my dorm for the night and try and focus on homework but that’s impossible. It’s the smallest resident hall on campus, but with all of the chatter and concerns, it seems as though we are in the middle of New York City. Some are thinking about the best-case scenario and others thinking of the worst. We finally arrive to our meeting and I look around the room. Faces of disgust, fear, fake smiles, and so much more. We are all waiting in suspense and then all of the sudden every administrator from housing walks through the door. Faces go blank, heads start spinning, and everyone turns white as a ghost. We receive the news that Frederick Hall is being evacuated by Friday of this week and used for anyone needing quarantine once we come back from break. This means that roommates were being split up; instead of doubles with people we were comfortable with, we were shoved into triples with two strangers. I spent that week packing and the last thing on my mind was school. This killed me because usually it is my priority but now it is something out of my control. My life was changing.
Friday came around and my whole room was put away in boxes. I had sent a lot of stuff home with my mom on Thursday in case we weren’t coming back from spring break. I had moved all of my things into my new dorm room, but it wasn’t anything close to as comfy as my old dorm. I kept thinking to myself “it’s only six weeks you can do it!” My car was packed, and I was ready to head home for break. I ttopped at the 99 Restaurant for lunch, and there I received another email; this time from the president of UNE. He stated that we would not be returning for the remainder of the semester and that we would be finishing with online learning. I drive home and tell my parents and midway through that week I was back at UNE packing once again. With my car full again, I headed back home and tried to adjust on the few days I had left of my spring break. Life wasn’t going to be the same anymore and it was all due to an outbreak of a virus.
One of the most virulent versions of a virus that has ever happened during my lifetime. Something that at first, everyone looked past, and brushed off as though it was dust in an old apartment. Something that evolved so quickly that once things started shutting down, and the supplies started to diminish, everyone was emerged in this life of panic. What started out to be only affecting elderly, now began to haunt anyone of any age, and has created this nightmare of an illness. It was almost as though everyone was stuck in sinking sand; one person started to descend, and along fell all the others. Jokes have been made that “its Corona time” but it truly is. We need to learn how to fight this virus, and it cannot be done by just figuring out a shot or medicine to clear up symptoms. It needs to start with us; the people that catch, spread, and have the opportunity to end this deadly virus.
It’s scary to think that we could be trapped in our homes for months on end, running out of who knows what anymore. It’s sad to think that mothers are going through pregnancies alone because hospitals are trying to keep everyone as safe as possible. It is mind blowing that families cannot even get together to celebrate birthdays or gather to share memories. Most importantly, it’s insane that we are not in control of our own lives anymore, and the only ones that can gain that control back is ourselves. We need to learn to cooperate with the directions given and follow them each and every day. Without this, coronavirus will take over and be that monster nobody can defeat no matter how strong or how experienced. Schools are closed, sports have ended, restaurants have switched to take-out only, traveling is shut down, funerals and wakes have been on pause, states are in lock down, and food supplies have diminished. If we want this to keep increasing and having our ability to enjoy life to decrease, then we can continue what we’re doing, but until something changes, until we change, nothing will change; in fact, things will continue to get worse at an even faster rate. I know first-hand, dealing with this isn’t exactly painless, but it is doable. Being someone who has been directly affected by this virus, I couldn’t even imagine. I’m suffering without social interaction, never mind fighting a deathly virus that we don’t even have a cure to yet. I want to get out of the house, and go to the beach, never mind think of gaining the strength to sit up and get out of bed. My point is, is that if you think you are struggling you aren’t, unless you have this virus floating inside you causing your life to spiral downhill at an unimaginable speed. Do the right thing, and be that step in the right direction. Follow what you’re told and do it without excuses, because it is one step to conquering this nightmare and waking up alive and breathing. We may be out of breath and exhausted by the end but limiting the amount of people who won’t wake up from this is our goal and we cannot do it by standing alone. It’s a pandemic, meaning it is affecting our world’s population, so although we cannot hold hands at the moment we can still work together and fight this nightmare until our line of vision is clear when we wake up.
