We live in the modern world. I never thought a pandemic could ravage our civilization. I thought we had medicine and technology to deal with these types of problems. I thought pandemics only existed in fictional stories. Somehow, pandemics were real. We did not have the technology needed to deal with this type of problem. More importantly, I was caught up in the pandemic and covid left a deep impression on my life.

When the pandemic started, I was 11 years old and about to turn 12. I was hoping 2020 would be a good year because I have this moral belief that since I was born in an even year – 2008 – I would have good luck in even years. I don’t know where I came up with that idea but I am now slowly starting to drift away from it. It felt as though I was going to be in a new stage of life because at the time I was working on my bad habits and even considered joining soccer again. I was ready to be a new person. Little did I know that I would be forced to become a new person at the end of February. That’s when it officially hit the world. I remember seeing new articles, and posts on social media about the new disease that would [in the future] kill 1.07 million people in the U.S. and almost 6.62 million people worldwide.

I remember my mom called me saying we would have a 2-week break from school and we needed to complete our work online. I was happy at first. I did not like school as an 11-year-old, so it was a pleasant surprise. It was refreshing to take a 2-week break and I was excited about it because I was able to take a break from school. Unfortunately, my 11-year-old mind could never imagine that it would last more than two weeks. After that, it was announced that the 2-week break was going to be extended for a longer time.

The two weeks became months and suddenly online school became the norm. I would stay in my bed for long periods of time after logging off from online school. I did not even go downstairs to see my family. I was glued to my phone the entire day and sometimes skipped meals because I did not feel like seeing anybody around me. I don’t know why I pushed myself to that extreme. Not only that, but I started not doing my schoolwork. I am sure I was not the only student to do that, but I was an A’s and B’s student. I had been good in school and I was on top of my game. When I was stuck in quarantine, it was like that all faded away and I slacked off. I did not know what was going on with me. I still don’t why I was like that. It was depressing and so draining.  Even though I knew that I was lucky enough not to catch covid, the effects of being alone and isolated still affect me.

It almost felt like a continuous cycle that would never stop. I did not know what to do or who I should talk to. I felt trapped and isolated. A year later, I sat down with my family and talked to them about what I was going through and why I was so distant. They thankfully understood me and explained how to transition out of that state of being alone. It felt refreshing to be understood for the first time and it felt like those emotions that I had during the quarantine were out of the bottle, and it felt nice.

I am now slowly starting to patch up those wounds that started during quarantine and becoming a different person. I am starting a new journey without any complications.

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