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  2021-09-27

  COVID-19, College and a Pandemic Puppy

  I was attending Estrella Mountain Community College at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. When we found out that we were going to have an extended spring break it seemed like a much-needed break at the time. Nobody knew it would change our lives forever and it especially changed mine. During the beginning of the pandemic, I completed my Associate Degree completely online and it would convince me to continue my bachelor’s degree completely online through ASU. I was able to experience this new way of learning in college and I really liked it. A lot of my peers in college have said how much they dislike online learning, but during the pandemic I learned how much I prefer online learning to in person learning. This pandemic has been one of the worst experiences I have had in my life, but it also taught me so much about myself. Another milestone during the pandemic was my family got a new puppy named Loki. She was really the highlight of our days during quarantine and gave us something to look forward to everyday. I work at an elementary school in the after-school care program, so at the beginning of the pandemic I was able to stay home and still be paid. When August 2020 came around, we had to go back to work, and it was terrifying at first. All the adults and kids were wearing masks, so it felt a little safer, but it was still very scary. The feeling of so many unknown things during this pandemic was really the worst and it just brought anxiety with every day. This pandemic also highlighted some issues that we have within our society. Things like access to covid tests and vaccines were highlighted within our society as issues. People living in less wealthy areas of the world did not have the same access to covid tests and vaccines as everyone else in the rest of the world did. This allowed the virus to spread even more than it should have already. Another big issue in our society during the pandemic was the mask debate. The virus continued to spread due to people refusing to wear masks and infecting people when they were not wearing masks. The mask debate is still ongoing because the pandemic is still not over. A huge issue we have in our society right now is the argument about whether vaccines are safe and if masks are effective. The only way we are going to end this pandemic is if everyone gets the vaccine and people continue to wear masks. This pandemic has been ongoing for almost a year and a half, it is time that we try as a society to end this pandemic.