Items

• 2021-01

  2020-2021; Florida and Covid-19

  I was a Freshman in college working at Busch Gardens Tampa when Covid happened. I remembered I was at work, it was a Sunday evening, the day before spring break, and my boss said that park is gonna close go file for unemployment. I thought that was weird because the park never closes, like ever. The only time in history BG closed was for Hurricane Katrina. Anyways, I decided to take advantage of the cheap plane tickets during this time period and travel for the first time, and I was able to make some wonderful memories and see the beautiful West Coast. But once the dust settled and I came home from spring break I had to leave school and move back home. Being stuck at home without a job was mentally draining. Fast forwarded when school started again we were able to move back into the dorms but class was online and we really couldn't leave. At first I just wanted to get away from my parents and get my independence back. I got vaccinated shortly after it was available to college students because I honestly felt that it wouldn't kill me, and people were sick and dying and I thought I could at least help. I was very cautious about washing my hands and wearing a mask, even though nobody else I knew cared because sadly the state of Florida didn't take it seriously. Due to being in a dorm alone for so many weeks/months, it took a really bad mental toll. and then my Great Grandmother died of Covid-19. Nobody knew what was happening, she just got sick and the Covid turned into double ammonia, and shortly she passed. After that my mental health plummeted and I almost dropped out of school. This was Jan. 2021. I started taking it very serious afterwards even though I lived in the one place that did not and never shut down. But she got sick from a kid in our family being asymptomatic and spreading it to her. Personally I feel the pandemic changed my life. I lost someone so important to me, I had to reevaluate my mental health to the point I had to get counseling again and get an ESA. I also now feel I lost a few years of my life. It's just weird. Still to this day most of my family thinks it was fake, a military tactic, and refuse to get vaccinated. For some reason in Florida, everyone was convinced Covid couldn't spread because it was too hot. I mean maybe? I never once got sick but so many others did. It was just strange being in a place where nobody cared. When I traveled to other cities it was a ghost town, but not here. Everyone partied and went out like nothing happened. And then after, in the years 2021-2023 sooo many people moved to Florida because they thought its cheap and we wouldn't close down. And now as a result of being the "fun state" who stayed open and encouraged people to come, our Covid rates spike higher, and it's unaffordable in the cities. The impact was insane.