graphic by Nakya Castille
Trinity.
When I first heard about the coronavirus, I thought it was a joke. I thought it would be another virus that came and went just like Ebola. I was wondering why they were telling the United States about it because I didn’t think it would ever come to the US. I didn’t think anything about it because it wasn’t where we were.
Every morning I’d wake up in kinda a “I don’t wanna be awake” mood. However, I would go downstairs and eat some breakfast and say good morning to my parents. Then we would hop in the car and they would take me to school. Fast forward to February, one morning I woke up to hear that the coronavirus had hit the United States and was spreading fast. When I heard that, I was a little worried but still didn’t care because it wasn’t in Colorado. Fast forwarding some more, I heard it hit Colorado. So, being my teenage self, I posted a Snapchat saying “The virus has hit CO, everyone stay safe.” At that point, I realized this virus wasn’t going away and little did I know that it would take my school year away from me. When they told us that we would get a three week break from school because of the virus, I didn’t think they meant the whole rest of the school year. When I heard that the rest of my sophomore year was going to be online, I was a little sad, but I thought we would come back next year. Here I am now, sitting at my dining room table, doing online school for my junior year. If I could describe this year with one word, I would say it sucks. At first I thought doing online school would be fun. Turns out this isn’t what I thought. I remember just being able to walk down the hallways and stare at the brown lockers and think to myself, “Wow I love this school.” Hearing the joy of everyone laughing with their friends during lunch time and actually having a conversation that’s not about work with a teacher were once simple things that I now greatly miss. Doing online school has made me realize that anything could happen. I try to make it seem as if I’m actually going to school just by waking up early. I just want to feel that joy again. That joy knowing that I’m going to see my friends and I’m going to talk to my favorite teachers. I remember the feeling of having to take the PSAT. I was so scared but was so confident. I also remember finals. After we were done taking our finals we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. My friends and I would go to a food place down the street and hang until it was time to head home. Even though my education is online, I’m still taking it as serious as I did in school. It sucks not knowing when your internet is going to cut out until it does or when your battery is low and your computer just shuts off. This is a big adjustment to my life and everyone else’s. I just hope that if I can’t be in school for my junior year, then at least I can be for my senior year.
As much as I love bothering my parents, I just want to go back to school. I never thought I would say that. This is my story, when a virus becomes my whole reality. If you’re feeling down about yourself or feeling really unmotivated, just know that you can get through this, we all will.
