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Collected Item: “A Terrible Blessing”

Give your story a title.

A Terrible Blessing

What sort of object is this: text story, photograph, video, audio interview, screenshot, drawing, meme, etc.?

N/A

Tell us a story; share your experience. Describe what the object or story you've uploaded says about the pandemic, and/or why what you've submitted is important to you.

At a time where I’ve never been more in need of a break, I received more than I had bargained for. It is early 2020, I’m in my senior year of high school and worked almost everyday after school; I almost reached my breaking point. Everything stressed me out: drama, school, work, and lack of sleep. I hoped and wished and prayed for a break, and my prayers were unexpectedly answered. At first, it seemed like Coronavirus was just another cold, but then the world collapsed and everyone shut down. I was about to get an early spring break: two weeks to flatten the curve. Yet, this break turned into a nationwide hellscape. Everyone was forced to stay home, schools closed, entertainment centers closed, hockey was postponed, and even graduation was up in the air. I’ll admit, getting to stay home everyday was a blessing for the first few weeks. Then, it started to make me go nuts. I didn’t get to see my friends or go to work or school; my life was paused. A break is only good when you enjoy it with your friends, and my friends weren’t allowed out of the house and quite frankly, neither was I. My anxiety truly peaked and I was scared things would never even begin to go back to normal. Although it was different than it should’ve been, graduation still happened. I finally was reunited with my friends and teachers and it felt amazing to accept my diploma. As for college, it has been a little stressful amidst the pandemic. Not having in person classes is extremely different and it's much harder for me to learn, but i’m managing and things are getting better by the day. This brings us to the golden thing that remains: masks. I hate having to wear a mask in public, it’s a severe pain. However, I will follow the rules until everything returns to normalcy. At the end of the day, this pandemic has taught me a valuable lesson: always appreciate what you have and live in the moment, you never know when it could come crashing down. And today and forever, I stand by this. I will cherish what the lockdown has given me and taught me, yet I had to walk through hell to get to heaven.

Use one-word hashtags (separated by commas) to describe your story. For example: Where did it originate? How does this object make you feel? How does this object relate to the pandemic?

#2020, #graduate, #blessing, #anxiety

Who originally created this object? (If you created this object, such as photo, then put "self" here.)

N/A

Give this story a date.

2020-09-18
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