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  0022-04-12

  The Year the World Went Crazy

  I was not directly affected by the Coronavirus, but I knew several who were, some got over it like a cold, others did not survive. There was a devastating number of deaths resulting from the virus, yet so many people adamantly believed it was fake, it was something created by the American government to control citizens. Talking to people from other countries, it was actually embarrassing because the events that transpired in 2020, well, not so much the events, but the reactions to these events, became quite a joke to other countries. 2020 was a year of total divide in many ways: mask wearers vs. mask refusers, pro-vaccination vs anti-vaccination, democrats vs. republicans, races and racism, hoarders vs. "just buy what you need" shoppers, partiers and clubbers vs. stay-at-homers, the list goes on. The thing that affected my life the most in 2020 was not COVID, but the society I live in being in a constant state of chaos and aggression and judgement. This was not the first time a virus spread to other countries from one origin country, it was not the first time that origin country was China, and it was not created by the American government to control the people....I guess 2020 was also a year of conspiracy theories. It's disgusting to think of all those who perished in the pandemic from the virus who are forgotten about or disregarded due to the conspiracy theories against the virus. It was just a horrible year all around, huge step back from mankind in its morals and ethics.
• 2021-10

  The Division of Covid-19

  Since the pandemic started life has definitely changed in plenty of ways, not just for me but for everyone. From the way we learn in school and work jobs to the way we interact in public and meet people. One thing covid brought that I saw prevalent in a few different aspects of my life was a new reason for division amongst people. This new reason for division is almost a political thing, where there are people that are nervous and scared that covid is harmful and then the people who do not care and believe covid is blown out of proportion. I see this division in things like media, politics, family, and friends. It makes a lot of things confusing for me because I never know which side to listen to. The crazy thing to see for me is how a pandemic can come around and cause so much separation. At a point it started to seem like it was the only thing I heard people talking about and it would drive me crazy. If I put on the news, it was always someone saying everyone needs masks, then I flip the channel and the next station is saying mask are bad and should not be on all day. Then it came to my family, my dad would tell me I needed all the vaccines and booster but my mom on the other hand told me to do whatever I wanted and did not care. Seeing all of this back a fourth throughout this time would frustrate me because it made making my mind up so difficult. This eventually even got to my friends, and I saw friends that would argue about whether people should get the booster or not, and I thought it was so ridiculous. The reason I bring up this point of division is because I believe it is interesting how everyone has reacted to covid. I also feel like it has made people feel the need to push their opinions and ideas onto other people, it is something I have seen first-hand in my life. Similar to the way Hitler or Stalin pushed their ideas on everyone, but on a very different level. Maybe one day people will just let each other choose for themselves.
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  2021-04-23

  The Effects of Covid-19 Through the Eyes of a Pre-Med Undergraduate Student

  My reflection is to bring awareness of the increasing divide of our country through the impact of a pandemic . This is important to me because I believe that it affects the way we approach and solve global issues. My hope is that this reflection will give insight of the major issues that have occurred throughout this pandemic, and inspire those in the future to create possible solutions.
• 2020-10-06

  What is it going to take for Wisconsinites to take COVID-19 seriously?

  I find myself to be very troubled with the division of our current society. I live in Wisconsin and we have a democratic governor who, like many other governors, declared a public health emergency. In early March Governor Evers issued a mask mandate, put restrictions on the size and length of time of gatherings, shut down in-person school, and closed bars and restaurants. Although we continued to see increased cases and were able to track the spikes in cases to gatherings that defied the Safer-At-Home order, Republicans challenged and overturned the Safer-At-Home order after just sixty-two days. Calling the order an abuse of power, those who stood in opposition declared victory. We continue to be the only state where legislature (or the lack of) is what is driving our response to COVID-19. After the restrictions were lifted (in entirety), many in the state resumed life as ‘normal’. There were a good number of events cancelled. Their organizers cited liability when they were attacked for making the hard decision to shut down this year. The events that did move forward drew record attendance. My friend Randy is one of the many Americans who lost his job. He tried to make up for his lost income by promoting his band and he was able to book several gigs. After his fourth gig, he and several band members contracted the virus. Randy and his disabled daughter were both hospitalized. Jenna spent close to a week on a ventilator. Thankfully, she recovered. It could have been so much worse. People who chose to continue to wear masks, socially distance, and whether in support of the Governor or looking out for their own health and safety, continue to exercise caution were (and still are) publicly and brutally harassed. My husband has an incurable cancer. Although he is in remission, we remain vigilant with limiting our exposure as much as possible. A few months ago, we went to a hardware store and as we attempted to enter the store, two gentlemen (a term I use as loosely as possible), heckled us by calling us sheep and yelling “BAAAAA” as we tried to enter the store. Not wanting to make a scene, we turned around and left. On the way home, I called the store to report the incident. My thought was the family owned business was losing customers by no fault of their own so they should be made aware. I asked for a manager and ended up speaking with the owner. His response was to cite the fifth amendment and offer the option to take my business elsewhere. How did we become a society where it is OK to openly mock people who are just trying to keep themselves healthy? Fast forward to just a few days ago. On October 3rd, the Center for Disease Control reported that Wisconsin is now considered an epicenter of an outbreak having a reported 17,000 positive cases in seven days. It did not have to be this way. Why must the virus be so politicized? What happened to thinking of others? Most importantly, what is it going to take for Wisconsinites to take COVID-19 seriously?