Items

• 2024-04-09

  My Horrible experience

  Whenever COVID first started I didn't think about I thought it was nothing I remember when we got two weeks off of school I was excited about it then they told us we wouldn't be going back and we had to do work online with no teacher help it was a horrible experience I passed but my grades weren't that great and I got really lazy and started to gain a lot of weight didn't go outside for a while and I couldn't play football than when 9th grade started it was a weird experience going online and then going to school for two or three days out the week and have to stay 6 feet from everyone it was a hard experience I played football but it was 4 or 5 games, not a full season and we had to wear a mask it was bad. COVID took a lot from me during my freshman year of high school and other things that were important to me.
• 
  2022-02

  Ripple Affect from COVID 19

  My personal experience with COVID 19
• 2020-08-08

  The Virtual Zaragoza Experience [DUPLICATE]

  The screenshot is the 2020 St. Mary's university Zaragoza itinerary. Before coming to St. Mary's, I was told all about the Zaragoza experience, and how it is an extremely important part of the St. Mary's experience. It's a time where freshmen are finally introduced into the St. Mary's family right before school starts. Unfortunately, 2020 freshmen had a very different experience. Our entire Zaragoza was online, and I am very thankful for the Zaragoza leaders' efforts through the event; however, it really wasn't the same as a real Zaragoza. It felt like I wasn't really there, and that I wasn't really a true St. Mary's freshmen. At least, not while I was not on campus. Overall, I appreciate St. Mary's efforts since it wasn't their fault at all. This year's Zaragoza was just collateral damage as we move into this new reality of Covid and its impact on freshmen.
• 
  2020-08-08

  The Virtual Zaragoza Experience

  The screenshot is the 2020 St. Mary's university Zaragoza itinerary. Before coming to St. Mary's, I was told all about the Zaragoza experience, and how it is an extremely important part of the St. Mary's experience. It's a time where freshmen are finally introduced into the St. Mary's family right before school starts. Unfortunately, 2020 freshmen had a very different experience. Our entire Zaragoza was online, and I am very thankful for the Zaragoza leaders' efforts through the event; however, it really wasn't the same as a real Zaragoza. It felt like I wasn't really there, and that I wasn't really a true St. Mary's freshmen. At least, not while I was not on campus. Overall, I appreciate St. Mary's efforts since it wasn't their fault at all. This year's Zaragoza was just collateral damage as we move into this new reality of Covid and its impact on freshmen.
• 
  2020-10-08

  End of Freshman Year

  My photo is my farewell picture to my dorm room on the day I had to move out of it due to COVID-19. My freshman year of college was an amazing experience where I began to truly understand the person I was: a lover of politics, reading, and going out with friends. Once I finished my last midterm, I packed a few items to take back home for spring break, not once thinking I had spent my last night in my dorm. Spring break rolled along and we received the fateful email: classes would be held online. At this point, COVID-19 numbers began to drastically rise around the country and the world. The life we once knew had drastically changed. Daily occurrences were no longer permitted: concerts, sporting events, and breathing without a mask over one’s mouth and nose. As I made my way back to my dorm at Arizona State University, I felt a longing for the life we once lived. The life we had no idea would cease to exist. I opened the door to my dorm and the familiar scent of rose diffuser instantly brought back the hundreds of memories that college had gifted me. This was the room where I first felt independent, where I spent long nights studying and staying up late with friends. This was the room where I met my roommate, who is now my best friend. I had intended to come back to my new home, ready to continue the adventures that had excited me in the first three-fourths of the school year. However, COVID-19 changed everything. I packed up what was left and asked my dad to take a picture of me one last time. Now, my college experience is limited to a laptop screen back at my parents place. All extracurriculars have ceased. We communicate with our teachers and classmates through zoom. The pandemic has halted physical human interaction. Hopefully we are one day able to freely breathe without the fear of infecting each other.
• 2020-04

  Missing out on important Life Experiences, stuck at home.

  When my high school, Hamilton High, postponed the return of school for a few weeks due to the rising COVID-19 cases here in the United States, I wasn't all too bummed about missing an extra few weeks of school. I didn't consider how deadly the virus would be, how many lives it would take, and how many life experiences it would steal from me; all I knew was that I got to be at home doing whatever I wanted for an extra few weeks. I thought I was free, free from my usual life obligations, free from stress, free from all the problems the average teenager goes through. Little did I know that that was the start of mine, and many others, living purgatory. As the days passed by, seeing the cases rising and the deaths rising left me contemplating about how short life really is, what was I doing with my life, was I living my life to the fullest. I realized that any day I could wake up, not knowing it would be the last day of my life. Not only that, but as the return date to school pushed further and further back until finally, they announced that the rest of the school year would be canceled. That means that I would not have a traditional graduation, nor would I be able to attend prom. With COVID cases on the rise seemingly every week, I realized that most college campuses would be either closed or highly limited, and with a pandemic ongoing there wouldn't be much of a chance for social interaction, or going to classes in person, or really just living the college experience. I feel like I was deprived closure from high school, and my first year of college wouldn’t be the fun freshman college experience that most other people have. Fortunately, my friends and family have been safe from the virus, which I am very grateful for. However, I still can't help but feel slightly sorry for myself and other teenagers who are missing out on their freshman experience.