Peoples' Perspectives: COVID-19 In Whatcom County

11/10/2020

Bellingham Washington

Dear History, 
Ever since this pandemic began, it was like time slowed down. Before, I was at school for 6 and a half hours, would come home and eat a snack, and then I was off to volleyball practice. After my two-hour practice I came home and ate dinner, watched tv for a little bit and then I took a shower and went to bed. The next morning, I would wake up at 7 am and do the same thing again. I would do this every day during the weekdays. Most weekends I had volleyball tournaments too which went from around 7 am to sometime between 5 and 7 pm. As you can probably guess I was very busy and had a lot of stress and not a lot of time to just slow down and take a break from my crazy days. As soon as the pandemic started it was like the world hit the pause button. I suddenly had all of the time in the world and at first it was amazing. I was so happy to have a break and not have anything to do, but that got old real fast. Not only could I not do the things that I was doing before that were stressing me out and didn’t really seem fun anymore, but I also couldn't do the things that I wanted to do like go shopping or spend time with my friends. I, like everyone else was forced to find things to do in my own home. I am very thankful that I had the biggest source of entertainment during the time when we could not do anything else, my sisters. Over these past few months, I have spent so much time with my sisters and have found so much entertainment within them. This time has made me so much closer with them and I think changed our relationships with each other for the better. I think that the most difficult thing for me personally that has come from this crisis is that I have had to find entertainment in a lot of ways that I didn’t have to before. I never thought that would ever be a problem for me. Overall, this time has not been super bad for me. It does get a little depressing just staying by yourself and really not having any social interaction, but for the most part I have managed. I am so happy that I am able to see people a little bit more now that things are starting to open back up a little bit again. It's crazy to think of how fast things can change. I remember being in geometry on Friday March 13, aka the last normal day that we had, taking a test in class and then my mom sending me an article from the Washington state governor saying that all schools would be closed for the next 3 weeks. Little did we know it would be months before we could even see anyone besides our families again. And as it is currently November and we aren't in school in person and it doesn’t seem like it is going to happen soon, I would count on it being almost a year before we are back at the school. When we do go back, we will only be able to see the half of everyone's faces not covered in cloth. Never in my life did I think that the whole world would change completely in a matter of months or even weeks. Or that we would be taught to fear social interaction. During this time especially now where we are looking at a computer screen all day stuck in our bedrooms, wishing we could go back to school which for some people was never even a thought, it is important to keep a positive attitude and try to see the good in the situation. I think that this situation will make everyone so thankful for the life that they have and never take what they are able to do every day for granted. I also think that it will make people closer as a community because this time has really made people care a lot about other people as it has been a great time to reflect on all the great things that we have in our lives. Even though it may take many years for us to finally get back to the way that we were, I am thankful for this time that I have had to reflect and be thankful and to get closer with my family.