graphic by Nakya Castille
Tess.
When COVID-19 first started in China and had not reached the US yet, my friends and I were watching memes about what was going on. Little did we know, two months later we would be right there with them (or worse), meaning the US COVID cases were not getting much better. I was in the middle of my junior year having the time of my life. My best friend had just gotten home from the Dominican Republic, playing with the Jamaican National Juniors’ team. Once sports were canceled, many of us knew school would be closed.
Having parents who are divorced and switching homes frequently, I was scared that I was exposing myself to many people. My mom was working for Kaiser Permanente in their OB/GYN department and seeing patients all day, putting her and me at a higher exposure to people we didn’t know. After being possibly exposed, I would be going to my dad’s house to see four more people and make them much more vulnerable to get new germs. Both my dad, step-mom, and step-sisters were all moved remote while the entire master bedroom and upstairs was getting remodeled. Let’s just say there was a lot going on all the time!
One of my best friends got a cold and gave it to me. We got a sore throat and then a cough, but we never had a fever or lost our sense of taste. Having my mom be a health care provider and her being my primary parent, I had to get tested for COVID-19. They swabbed up both nostrils for about 30 seconds each; they reached far up into my sinuses. It was uncomfortable and made me want to sneeze pretty bad, but it never hurt. My mom was also tested weeks before for feeling a lot of those same symptoms; we both tested negative for COVID-19.
This year TJ gave the option to go back in person or do remote learning; I was super excited, but once I saw restrictions and what the school day was like, there was no interest for me. I would rather be at home on my computer than in the same classroom all day. I get the restrictions that DPS has to follow; the students’ safety and health is their top priority.
Being a senior in high school, I wish things could be different and that I could have a regular senior year, but the safety of everyone comes first. I miss being in the classroom with all my peers and teachers, but life isn’t like that anymore. I hope to be back in the classroom by sometime in the second semester, but the rates aren’t going down right now. My teachers have done the best job they could with online learning and how it is new to all of us.
