Corona Journal

Title

Corona Journal

Description

From my Coronavirus Journal, the last entry before everything shut down in Washington County

Date

03-15-2020

Relation

SRU Student

Text

15 March, 2020
Things are not looking better for us. There is talk going around that everything will be shut down starting Wednesday. I imagine grocery stores, gas stations, and things like that will stay open, but rumor has it that stores, restaurants, etc. will all be closed. Perhaps I will not get to work after all. If this whole thing is an elaborate plot, then I do not see what the endgame is. Divert attention? Destabilize? Prove the superiority of online shopping?
The CDC has advised against any gatherings of 50+ people. I don’t know what to expect when I go back to the apartment. Will I be greeted by a ghost town? It’s still hard to believe this whole thing is actually happening. No more than a few weeks ago my friends and I were all in a classroom joking about the virus. Now, it’s grinding our country to a complete standstill. In just a weekend, it’s like everything has changed. One thing’s for sure, if they do shut down everything, I’m going to be incredibly bored. I should be using all of my downtime to do research for a project which is still due, but I can’t seem to motivate myself to do it. Speaking of school, I need to figure out how I’m going to apply for student teaching. I hope this whole thing won’t cause any setback for me.
I feel as if this journal is terribly devoid of emotion. I guess because the disease has not affected me or anyone close to me, I really don’t have much to say about it. I’m completely over my cold, so I feel safe going out again. I don’t know what the point will be when everything’s shut down though. I’m still seeing my Girlfriend. She’s honestly the best thing to have happened to me amidst all this. I enjoy talking to her, and learning more about her. If it weren’t for her, I’d be unbearably lonely. All of my friends are miles away. I wish it were normal again. I could go back to school, see all of my friends, get into a bit of trouble, the things someone my age should be doing. I guess you never realize what the world has to offer you until it isn’t there anymore. I’m also curious about how this will affect the election. Despite my best hopes, people are starting to politicize the whole thing. Each side is criticizing the others efforts to stop the spread. I guess that’s how politicians work though.
The funniest thing is, I had a feeling that something wasn’t right this semester. I had a gut feeling that something about this semester just didn’t feel like the past ones. Maybe I’m reading too much into this, but maybe the universe was telling me to be on my guard. Probably not. I’m not one for superstitious nonsense. All of these people who think this signifies the end of days it fulfills some ancient prophecy have spent far too much time buried in a bible, so to speak.

Collection

Citation

Devin Underwood, “Corona Journal,” Shared Voices, Shared Experiences: COVID-19 and the Slippery Rock Community, accessed December 2, 2023, http://slipperyrockcovid19.org/items/show/27.

Output Formats

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