When I first heard about coronavirus, it was in China. It was something that I never thought was serious and it wouldn’t greatly impact me. Well boy was I wrong. Living near Seattle, Washington, we were the first to be impacted in the country. The first case was reported no more than 30 minutes away from me, and it almost seemed like a race between us and New York on how many cases we had, they skyrocketed. Eventually, they made school online for a month, and then it turned out to be the rest of the year, and it was just announced for next year also. Our governor was on it, and everything was closed. I thought it was an opportunity to hang out with friends, but I soon realized that that wasn’t the case at all.
Now, because we took action, Washington’s cases have settled down, and everyone seems to be doing great. Some friends and I even tried to create a service that helped elders get their groceries without any risk. On the other hand, my dad lives in Texas, which didn’t take its cases seriously and is just now having a severe jump in cases. With my good friend living there, I always felt lonely because all she was doing was hanging out with people. Since 5th grade, my mental health has always been questionable, because of family and friend situations. I got really bad in 8th-9th grade, and this last year I finally felt like I was doing okay, not as many bad thoughts, opening up a bit more. But then I couldn’t socialize, or grow. My health went backwards, I slowly started getting bad again, and I’ve been having some upsetting thoughts. I do really try hard, but coronavirus has made it difficult, as I also started losing motivation in school. Luckily, I have something to sort of take my mind off of things, because we are moving to a different state. I’m thinking this will allow for many new opportunities, but I don’t think we ever would be moving if it weren’t for this virus, which is crazy. I’m hoping a vaccine will come soon, and I’m hoping for the best for our country, as we seem to be having a tough time battling this. Thanks for reading. Love to all, stay safe.
— Brianna Swafford, 16
Seattle, Washington
