96 Oh Wow, Why Did Everything Have to Happen During COVID?
CJ Sta Ana
Being 15 in Grade 10, I was where I’ve always been, an attached home in a suburb of Brampton, Ontario. However, I did happen to move houses (within a similar area in Brampton) in October of 2020. My experience was very similar to many non-post-secondary students in North America wherein we first heard it from the news, talked about it in school, and thought; “it wouldn’t actually turn into something big right?” We then took this ignorant thought to March break of 2020 and rejoiced when the schools announced that March break would actually be extended by two weeks. While we were happy at first, little did we know how long this “break” would actually last. For the most part, I spent the pandemic playing video games and doing online schoolwork. As for being on lockdown, my parents only went out for essential purposes and my school became online only until they decided to try “hybrid schooling” at the beginning of my Grade 11 year—this was the first bit of human interaction I got outside of my immediate family. Other than that, I was not allowed to go outside or see my friends up until September of 2020. By the time restrictions lifted, my family could not wait to get busy again. My family ended up moving houses—on my birthday actually—in October and I was getting ready to take my G1-exit driving test. My mom ended up running a mask business where she made a bunch of fabric masks and sold them on Facebook marketplace, and I was able to go out a bit more. A lot of the time, however, the restrictions tended to flip-flop; with cases going up and down, my school also followed this with switching from hybrid to just online. By the time my Grade 12 year came around, a lot more students were in person, but hybrid was still an option—so you technically could not be “sick” and not attend class—and only a few times did we need to completely “lockdown” and go online. Thankfully, restrictions were, more or less, completely lifted by the time my Grade 12 prom and graduation came around. As for any day-to-day changes, it was just having to be holed up in my house for long periods at a time, only going out when absolutely necessary, and disinfecting anything that came into the house—even groceries. When restrictions were lighter, it was going out with a mask at all times, social distancing, and hybrid schooling (and no formal exams).
My greatest challenge during COVID was trying to maintain a relationship that I had at the time. While COVID is not to blame for the fallout, it surely did not help. However, while it REALLY didn’t feel like it at the time, getting out of that relationship was definitely a good thing. It also pushed me to properly exercise letting me come out of the pandemic looking quite nice. 🙂
Virtual schooling was okay. It did suck not being able to see or interact with my friends, but my classes made the most out of being online. Online classes were also quite convenient as I just had to get out of bed and sit at my desk. A long-term impact that I have experienced and actually talked about with others is a decrease in verbal speaking ability. I used to be much better at talking in person before the pandemic; coming out of it, however, I found myself struggling with vocabulary and general flow with my speaking. While I am doing somewhat better now, it is not the same. Most of the time, I find that my fingers talk better than my mouth.
The biggest thing that I felt I missed out on was my drumline competition. Before March break, my drumline was practicing for the competition only for it to be cut abruptly. Even though we were able to return during my Grade 12 year, we were only able to participate in a “concert class” (just standing and playing) and just recorded a run through. It would have been really nice to experience the whole rigorous practicing and field trips to the competitions, but we sadly did not do any of that in my last year.
What cultural changes do you feel occurred due to Covid? I feel that the usage of masks when one is sick has become the norm now. Which I think is a wonderful idea and question why it took so long for us to do that.
How do you think Covid impacted the mental health of you or people your age? The whole social isolation bit does take a toll on you. However, with me already playing video games as the main way I spend time with friends, it did not impact my mental health too much. If anything, I quite liked the peace and quiet. On the other hand, I personally know people who were not able to take it too well and really struggled being apart from everyone. So much so that they continued to isolate themselves much longer than the restrictions lasted.
What do you think scholars studying Covid 100 years should know about our collective Covid experience? I think they should know that humans really need human interaction. I never really knew how much of a toll zero social interaction could do to a person.
Two course themes that I experienced during the COVID pandemic were blame which led to stigma. Blame as in when society is so quick to place marginalized groups at fault for pandemics like that of the Spanish flu without an accurate scientific backing. Historically, officials have twisted the news to shift society’s views. This tactic has been used again and again to sort of scapegoat these marginalized communities as a way to turn the attention away from the system’s faults. As a result, this blame quickly turns into stigma against these communities from the rest of the community. Whether it be discrimination on a systems level or in day-to-day experiences, this stigma simply creates a ton of barriers for these communities. As for the COVID-19 pandemic, it cannot be said for sure that the blame placed on the Chinese people was by other world governments, but because the virus happened to originate from China, Chinese communities around the world were faced with a lot of discrimination as if they “already had the virus.” I also happened to witness instances of this stigma multiple times throughout the pandemic; whether it was in a Walmart, online, or just taking a stroll outside, I saw altercations and deliberate acts towards separating and belittling these communities. My mother, who works as a nurse, has also recounted seeing this discrimination in hospital settings. Thus, as with many pandemics, the COVID-19 pandemic was also met with the course themes of blame and stigma.
