DANIEL ZAND WRITES – The COVID-19 outbreak has created what I refer to as a pause in the world. Schools are closed, many businesses have shut down, and we all are under lockdown staying at home. The stock market is dropping as well as our economy, and it is all a waiting game now. I am a senior student at Loyola Marymount University, as this was my last semester until graduation. Never would I believe that my final months of college would consist of online lectures while I sit in my bedroom. Graduation will be postponed, and the most exciting months of my life will be experienced as a prisoner locked in my house. Luckily, my family lives in Los Angeles so I had no experience of boarding risky flights to get home. Yet, as the virus is more fatal to the elderly, we have had to split up our household. My grandparents are now secluded into our backhouse, where all physical contact is limited to ensure precaution. My contact with friends is only over the phone, and each day is becoming more repetitive than the last.
Overall the COVID-19 virus has opened my eyes to what I once believed was impossible. Never could I imagine a world epidemic this severe that I will one day tell stories about it to my children in the future. It has created a fear in my everyday life- I am always thinking the absolute worst will happen. Are riots going to be flooding the streets, are shops going to be broken into for goods, or are people’s homes going to be the next target for break-ins? When will this all be over with? Everything is a mystery that keeps my mind whirling every day, waiting to read some good news online.
Disregarding all of the negative components to this virus, there are positives,too, that I have come to realize. These last two weeks have really given me the time to think about my priorities in life. With my entire school career coming to an end, I am off to my second chapter in life. No distractions of social life are occurring so I am now able to think of what I want. New opportunities are rising as well, given changes in the market. Home sales percentages are dropping, the stock market has experienced a drastic drop and much more.
In total, this experience has definitely changed my mindset. I have never experienced a worldwide event more drastic than COVID-19. It has taught me that anything can happen and we all must be prepared. COVID-19 is serving as a wake-up call and preparing for a potential, even more drastic event were to occur in our near future.