COVID and Community
“The pandemic forced people to react in unexpected ways.”
“At first I thought it was a hoax. That it was just a little sickness and it wouldn’t affect anyone,” said Samuel Garcia, a 12th grader attending CSH. Undoubtedly, the COVID-19 pandemic was the most devastating global crisis affecting the day-to-day lives of people internationally. The pandemic forced people to react in unexpected ways. Every student, teacher, and staff member who attends Comp Sci High has somehow been affected and could still possibly be affected by the pandemic even though the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023. This article will take a deep dive into various perspectives on the COVID-19 pandemic from various perspectives of students and teachers who attend Comp Sci High.
In December 2019, news articles came out discussing a new unnamed virus affecting people in Wuhan, China. Then, in January 2020, the virus started affecting people in the U.S. A month later, the virus finally got its name: COVID-19. There were many speculations on what caused the virus outbreak. Some of these speculations were just pure evil. People reporting their symptoms were just heartbreaking. Loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath, fever or chills, and more. It was just devastating. It was an experience everyone wanted to avoid. Masks were mandatory; you could only leave your home for human resources; you couldn’t see family members or your friends. It was a depressing period.
My personal experience with the COVID-19 pandemic was undeniably challenging. Especially academically. It was hard to focus on my online classes without having to hear my other sisters also on a call from their schools and having to hear their teacher's voice colliding with mine. I barely completed the homework assigned. I remember the async work and sync work. I never wanted to do either one of them. I was tired. Tired of my personal issues, tired of school, tired of everything. My mental health was not up to par. My grandpa was in desperate need of care and had to get one of his legs amputated. I always kept crying just seeing him in pain, and then I remembered how you had to show your face and have to wear the school uniform, not your pajamas. I hated that so much. I hated how much they pressured you to just turn on your camera, or else you'd face the consequences. I hated showing myself, mostly because back then I was very insecure due to my past experiences with bullying.
Advisory started at 8:50, and I would always wake up just 5 minutes before the advisory started. That was a bad habit of mine and ultimately landed me in significant trouble. My grades weren’t up to par as well. I was failing almost all of my courses. I just didn't have the motivation to care anymore. It was hard to pay attention to my classes. I was either sleeping or playing games in the background. Considering how I had to cook for both of my siblings, I always had to take time away from the classes. I missed valuable information and would be behind.
Samuel Garcia didn’t take the pandemic seriously. He saw the COVID-19 pandemic as a free pass into his upcoming high school years, even though he was going to fail 8th grade; however, the pandemic saved him. During the summer of 2020, he saw both of his parents coming home with masks covering their noses and mouths. Curiously, he wondered what those masks were being used for. Even then, he didn’t take the pandemic seriously. Samuel’s mom worked at a small business wrapping shampoo to customers. She kept working hard, risking her life to the COVID-19 pandemic just to come home every day to feed her family. His father worked at a company that helped the elderly get back and forth from the hospital to their own homes. Due to the pandemic, his dad had to stay home since he lost his job. It’s clear that Samuel's and his parents' lifestyles were slowly but surely changing due to the pandemic. The more the changes started happening, the more Samuel took the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.
“They do this every two years; it’ll blow over,” Mr. Mosley, a 12th-grade teacher, told me. He continued: “I was laughing and not taking it seriously at the time, but I had no idea just how much COVID-19 would impact my entire life.” Mr. Mosley also didn't take the pandemic seriously, just like Sam Garcia. Due to the loss of two fathers during the pandemic, and as the oldest sibling, Mr. Mosley tried to be there for his younger siblings. He started interacting with them more, like on FaceTime, and visiting them more. To get things off his mind, he decided to go to his home country, Liberia (West Africa), with his family. Instead of having the long-awaited trip be exciting, it turned disastrous. Mr. Mosley was falsely accused of testing positive for COVID-19 and had to be held in quarantine at a “random base." “Covid turned this into the worst trip of my life.” Mr. Mosley told me. It's clear that the COVID-19 pandemic was a cruel time in Mr. Mosley's life; however, it made him cherish his family more and be more in the picture with them, and he tried his best not to let the COVID-19 pandemic proceed to influence his well-being.
Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic was one of the most devastating global crises, affecting the daily lives of people worldwide. Even though the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the COVID-19 pandemic on May 11, 2023, there are still people who are struggling with COVID-19. People are still catching the virus and are living with the aftereffects of the virus. Continue to take care of yourself and others, and scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds. And if you think you've caught COVID, take a rapid COVID test and quarantine to make sure that you’re not putting anyone else in harm's way and that you’ll have a fast recovery.