The New Normal: Pandemic Through the Eyes of a College Student

The current pandemic plaguing the world has left everyone in a sudden halt from normal life. It’s certainly not something to joke about. If it’s not a joke, why are individuals in my generation treating it as one?

I believe my generation has become utterly desensitized to real life problems. We’ve grown up constantly bombarded with a plethora of information through the internet. Constantly aware of world issues occurring, and knowing there’s not much we can do about it. This has caused a lot of brushing off serious issues that arise. We’ve been told our “real life” won’t begin until after college, after we earn a degree and only then will we actually be meaningful to the world.

In high school, our constant threat was shootings. I grew up in Littleton, Colorado. My high school’s rival school is Columbine. Once my family and I were on vacation and we spoke to an individual from England. Immediately after we told her we were from Littleton her face turned a bit pale. She almost whispered somberly, “Oh… Columbine.” But for me it wasn’t weird to have grown up in that area. It was a tragedy that shook my community as well as the world but it was something that was normal to be discussed. My last month in high school as a senior we had school cancelled numerous times from shooting threats. Shooting threats were the new normal. Climate change seemed normal. In fact, it seemed like the one issue that needed to be focused on the most, the one issue my generation was motivated to change. That was altered very quickly. If this pandemic is the new normal, I wish I could wake up from this nightmare.

College was a fresh start, away from Littleton and the shooting threats. It felt like a new chapter, everything was going relatively well up until last month. We began hearing of the novel coronavirus that began in Wuhan, China. America seemed to brush it off, holding the mindset of “It won’t happen to me.” Weeks went by, and preparation for it entering our country had yet to even begin. When school got moved online people were ecstatic. To many of my peers, that meant more partying and traveling, and that’s exactly what they did. They disregarded the seriousness of the issue and saw it as an opportunity to do whatever they wanted.

Sitting at my house, avoiding the public at all costs I scroll through my social media feeds and see people I know traveling, hanging out with friends, and partying. Carrying on as though an ever looming virus is not about to pounce on our society as a whole. I became angry, do these people not care about the wellbeing of others as well as themselves? Online school will be really tough for many people, including myself. I’m so thankful that my education will be able to continue, but doing school online is altering my college experience drastically. Sitting at my desk in a dark apartment room takes a toll on mental and physical health. Getting up at a reasonable hour, getting dressed, and talking to fellow peers and teachers is no longer an option. I can roll out of bed to sit at my desk at any hour of the day. Time feels irrelevant except for due dates popping up on a screen. A few fleeting moments I’m able to forget about the pandemic and feel as though everything is alright, but the cold reality comes creeping in often. Sometimes it’s the first thing I think about when I wake up. I feel uneasy almost constantly, just hoping this will all end sooner rather than later.

Last semester I had to get a medical procedure done at the hospital. It was terrifying, I was told samples needed to be taken to test for cancer. It completely uprooted my mentality, I was horribly anxious up until the point of getting back the test results. At the time, it felt like one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. Looking back at it now, I’m so glad that the situation was resolved before the pandemic arised. It even feels silly for me to have been so upset about the procedure because of today’s challenges. During that rough time last semester however, I realized I had to pull myself together more than ever. I threw myself into my school work, got an internship, and made it onto the Dean’s list. Due to that motivation that I exuded during an awful time, I now know that I am capable of anything that is thrown my way. We all need to pull ourselves together. I hope my peers are able to find motivation during this scary time, and that we can all work together to help slow the spread of the virus. It only takes simple willpower and humanity.

I thought about my grandparents who have been staying inside and waiting for my aunt to drop off groceries outside their house. Once dropped off, they clorox wipe each item down and then take it inside. My grandfather was able to have a carrot cake for his 85th birthday because of the kindness of our family helping them out in every way possible. My grandfather served in the military for four years back in the day, and has a medical condition called Alpha 1 that requires him to be on oxygen at all times. A virus like the coronavirus could take his life. I wish now more than anything that I could’ve given the painting I made for my Grandfather’s birthday to him months ago. While speaking on the phone with him about the virus and staying safe he said, “Your Grandma and I took a risk and went to the Chick Fil A drive through. We got some chicken sandwiches, came home and wiped down the bag and had a nice lunch.” I am most certainly biased, but I think my grandparents are some of the best people in the world and they should be protected at all costs. The bone chilling reality of the situation is I don’t know how long it will be until I can safely see my grandparents again. I can’t comprehend the selfishness of the people that are not social distancing. Do they not have people they care about and worry about them getting sick? Or is my generation completely desensitized from everything and have lost the ability to care?

My mother went to the grocery store the other day and relayed her curious experience to me. She said, “I had a carton of eggs and the woman checking me out was shocked. She told me I should hide them so that no one would take them. Apparently there hadn’t been any eggs at the store for a few days.” This all feels so foreign. It seems like the situation just can’t be real.

I’m also grateful, without a doubt I am grateful that I have so many privileges in a time like this. It’s an absolute necessity to stay positive and show decent humanity. I’m grateful that this event is one of the most difficult things that I’ve ever had to face, yet I’m still better off than a great number of people in countless communities. I may walk into a grocery store and not be able to find an item I like to eat, but I still have food. I still have money to buy that food. I still have a warm shelter to social distance myself in. I have a family that will help me through anything. If I get horribly ill, there’s a hospital ten minutes away from me with experienced medical professionals risking their lives to save others. I am grateful to have so many resources at the tip of my fingers. Even with resources being somewhat limited, we haven’t come close to the conditions many people in this world must live in.

My frustration with the way my country’s leaders are handling the pandemic floods me with anxiety. I can’t comprehend why there weren’t better preparations for it reaching the U.S. People are still being forced to go into work at places that aren’t essential at this time. Traveling even by plane is still allowed. Without better measures put in place, I fear that every single American contracting the virus is inevitable. I applaud the medical workers spending countless hours and days helping people, looking for a cure, and showing decent humanity. The virus is the only thing anyone talks about anymore. News sources constantly update the public on the newest information surrounding the virus, and I’ve become very wary that any of the statistics we’re provided with are even true. There are so many individuals that aren’t being tested, simply because they haven’t been around someone that has tested positive. There are major flaws in our healthcare system, in our nation’s ability to show humanity for others, and in our country’s leaders. These flaws have become very apparent through the deaths of coronavirus victims.

As of today’s date, March 23, 2020 there are 374,929 cases of the virus according to worldometers.info. I can only assume this number will grow, it’s time to get serious about this and actually stay home if at all possible.

I feel useless for the communities that will get hit with the virus that do not have as many resources that I do. Even without a virus in the way, so many people die every single day from lack of resources. The virus could completely wipe through our country and we would most likely be better off than individuals born into situations that challenge their safety and health constantly. This makes me feel sick. People are stabbing each other over chicken in the grocery store. My country lacks humanity and is driven off of selfish behaviors. I am embarrassed that people are acting so extreme in this situation while still being able to have so many resources available to them. We never like to think about the people that don’t have clean water or enough food or healthy living conditions right? None of that matters unless our personal being is threatened with a virus that may never even affect us. If this is the new normal, I have taken so many things for granted and it’s a realization that will change my life forever. I can only hope that the virus doesn’t reach underdeveloped communities.

So, please stop stocking up on toilet paper. Also, let’s all agree to tell our kids we survived the zombie apocalypse of 2020.