Items

• 
  2020-03-13

  my covid experience

  My covid experience this year is probably a lot like others. I've lost family members to this pandemic my close friends lost loved ones as well. There are a plethora of people I know who have lost their jobs, gained severe diagnosis of anxiety and also depression. Being stuck in the house for all those months with family was a very strenuous task and it was also very debilitating as well. While the covid outbreak started my family and I were sent into a frenzy mentally and physically. My mother lost her job due to the pandemic and I had to pick up more hours at work and do other side jobs to somewhat help with the expenses as well also during this pandemic i was also in school. Attending Brooklyn College during the pandemic was a very difficult thing to do especially due to the fact that we had transitioned to online learning, something I or my teachers haven't really done in some time. The social distance learning that was implemented was a very difficult concept to grasp because one day we go from attending class everyday to the bombardment of information being thrown at us and us as students expected to keep up and also the teachers having to make sure they kept up with the requirements. School, going to work and worrying about the well being of others and myself put me into a state of worry at all times sort've giving me mild ptsd. I hope that this time next year this covid situation will be gone and we can go back to living the way we were.
• 
  2020-09-27

  The Ones We Have Lost

  Throughout this unexpected pandemic, many have lost a family member, a friend, or someone they knew. It has truly been a tragic event in history. Like many others, I lost someone I was very close with. My grandma was my best friend, she raised me as a kid, and though me the things I know and follow now. Her name was Maria and she lived in the Dominican Republic, she died at the age of 83. Many people in the neighborhood she lived in had gotten sick due to the virus. Slowly she too was getting sick. Her neighborhood was considered as a red zone which meant that the virus was spreading fast. Many of these people live with the majority of their families in one house. My grandma did not get the virus as she was very cautious. She had pulmonary edema and it was what caused her death. I told my mom that I wanted to go and be with her, my uncle had died a week before and I did not want my grandma to be without me. My grandma was buried the same day she died, without a goodbye she went away. So far away she was, I didn’t even a last hug or a last I love you. I lost many people due to COVID, but this one hurt me the most. I wanted to dedicate this story to all those we have lost. Their memories will forever remain with us, in our hearts. Although they died alone in a bed, they each knew they were loved and it was just simply their time to leave. My mama ( grandma) was the funniest human being I knew, I’m glad I took advantage of the time we had. So if you have lost someone just know that I am with you, It’s okay to feel the way you feel. One day we will get to see them again!
• 
  2020-03-17

  2020 Pandemic

  I was exposed to the Coronavirus almost immediately after the initial outbreak. I was already feeling sick in the middle of March. I felt a constant throbbing in my throat, sometimes I would wake up to a burning feeling in my lungs and felt pressure as though someone was standing on top of my chest. The first two weeks straight, I went from freezing cold to burning hot every few minutes, accompanied by a constant throbbing headache. The most menial of tasks would cause shortness of breath and my heart to pump excessively. I honestly felt I was going to die. After about a month, my breathing became less labored. In three months, I felt I recovered enough to start exercising again. By exercise, I mean the ability to walk a few blocks without having the wind knocked out of me. I began checking in with my family and found out that I had lost over 30 family members in Ecuador. I also lost a coworker, who was one of the kindest people you could meet and who was loved by her students. The amount of horrible and depressing individual stories of my family dying are too much to repeat, so I will say if there was ever a living nightmare, it was experienced by them. If I could describe what living through hell is like, I would say that it is the last six months of my life. Americans, as a whole, could have done better. To the people who have pretended that nothing is wrong, you deserve everything that is coming to you and I have absolutely no pity.
• 
  2019

  Far Away

  A couple months ago, the world knew nothing of COVID-19. We were going about our daily lives — going to school, sitting on the subway for way too long, hanging out with our friends, and seeing our loved ones regularly. Some went to work everyday to provide for their families while others took long walks in the park. Many of us looked forward to the summer, where we’d go to faraway places for vacation or visit the beach for a nice day in the sun. However, all of that was taken away from us. People were laid off, given fewer working hours, and paid less money. Small businesses went into a crisis, as they relied on their customers for their well-being. Everyone was ordered to stay inside for their safety as well as others. We can’t see each other anymore and have to communicate through phone screens and video calls. It’s a difficult time. Since my father is somewhat of a clean freak, he disinfects everything in our house every single day, from top to bottom. With the exception of my mother, who’s a Kindergarten teacher, everyone stays inside most of the time. I am sure we won’t contract the virus, but the same can’t be said about my family members in Bangladesh. Although I am proud of my country, it’s the truth that it’s a poor country with limited resources. Furthermore, there isn’t an equal distribution of the resources they do have, with most of it being consumed by the rich. This pandemic has proven to be a disaster for the poor in Bangladesh. A couple months ago, three of my uncles passed away from the virus. Each had a family and were the sole breadwinners of their families. They went to work almost every day to provide for their families. This has left all three families devastated, as they’re left with little to no way to support themselves on top. Events like this help me realize how lucky I am to be able to afford necessities such as disinfecting wipes, hand sanitizer, gloves, and masks. My family and I constantly worry about my relatives living in Bangladesh who can’t afford these things. We’re far away from each other, so we can neither deliver what they need to them or be with them when they’re sick. This is one of the hardest things I’ve experienced during this pandemic. Only my immediate family immigrated to the U.S., so everyone of my relatives are still in Bangladesh. It’s not safe to travel, so we won’t be able to fly over there in the case of an emergency. It’s a very bad situation, and we don’t really know what to do. I hope a vaccine will come out soon, not only in the U.S. but all around the globe.