How Being Stuck In A Pandemic Changed My Life 

The Pandemic Changed My Life

The air is still, the streets are empty, but life behind walls has been everything but calm. Life and everything as we know it changed, and now the new task that we face is adaptation.

As a second-year college student, I dreamed of completing my final tasks and graded assignments so I could graduate as soon as possible. I thought about graduation every day but the outbreak of the novel coronavirus seemed to pose a threat to the timeline that I had already carefully planned out. At the rate that things were going, I was honestly prepared to have to spend an extra year in school — at least! But, you know, online school seemed to be a quick solution (not!).

Lots Of Time To Think About Life

I must say that anyone who has had to complete a course online deserves a round of applause. Other than everyone rushing to work through the challenges, the level of determination that online classes take is unbelievable! I felt like I needed an instructor to tell me how to use the last few ounces of zeal that I had left in me to good use. 

That, paired with being stuck in the house, really has a way of making you want to watch paint dry. As a professional homebody, however, I didn’t quite mind. That was until I realized that the school year would be extended. Yay!

The initial plan was to stay home and hope things would blow over in a couple of weeks so that we could head back out. But it became a game of “masks on, masks off” very quickly. Being in the middle of a pandemic, but never having to wear a mask because you never went outside anyway, sounded pretty okay if you asked me. But all that time inside made me do some thinking… and a lot of it.

What Is Normal?

In a situation like this, first, you have hope that things will be back to normal soon. Then you realize that your idea of “soon” has to change. Normalcy is only expected to return in at least five or six months. Then, four months in, you start thinking that nothing may ever seem “normal” again because everything as you know it is changing. Then, finally, you start to realize that sometimes a little change is good.

All this time not being able to meet up with friends and family, really does make you reflect on how you spent your free time before. You start to wonder, “Did you do anything fun?”, “Was there anything that you could turn into a story for your grandchildren?”, or “Did you just take all that you had for granted?”. 

For those of us (yes, us) that spent all our time doing the latter, that’s okay. I started to think about how this would affect my life moving forward. It’s time for me to stop and smell the roses.

I won’t see a trip to the beach as a way to get sand in uncomfortable places anymore. Now, it’s a great way to soak up some sun. I’ll never blow off another lunch date with friends. Rather, I’d see it as an amazing opportunity to have a jolly good time. I don’t know how long I’ll keep at it though, but if I ever get the chance to live through another pandemic, I should have some great memories to keep me through.

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