Talon Issue #104 - CoEds & CoVids"

Years of Our Lives

...but I am stuck inside, social distancing

Manny Hernandez

Before the outbreak I had landed a job at Chipotle, I did not enjoy it at all. When the government began closing “non-essential” places, luckily Chipotle was an essential workplace. I was able to keep my job and not be unemployed. I began to appreciate Chipotle a little more than before. Chipotle’s lobby is closed and no one can go inside, but the online deliveries and food delivery businesses are keeping us busy. School became online, and online school sucks. The reason I believe that is because I have no motivation in doing the work, and or attending the video conferences. I had my first experience with a teleconference and it was a different experience. I am glad the university is always checking up on and asking us if we need anything and they are always open to help us. All my professors have emailed me and checked up on me, and that is a gesture I appreciate. Social distancing means I can’t see my friends, teammates, and go to social gatherings. It has become a dry season for the students. I spend a lot of time at home now, I went and bought Dragon Ball Z season 4 and 5 to keep me entertained while I’m at home and keep me from going anywhere. I facetime my friends and teammates just for some social interaction and keeping in touch with them.

I haven’t seen some family members due to the social distancing that is supposed to last through April 30th. This makes you reflect on how you’ve taken your ordinary life for granted. I want to enjoy my summer vacation this year and hope this will be all over soon. Having group assignments during this is hard and you have to have a lot of communication with everyone. Staying in contact with professors and other students is key to passing your classes this semester. Living in an age where we can all communicate through the internet is amazing and helpful in times like this. This is not the first Coronavirus outbreak in history; it is actually the third. Experts say it has never spread this fast though. There are over five hundred thousand cases all over the world now. Keeping distance between each other is hard, but it’s effective towards curving the spread of the disease. The weather has been nice enough to go on walks and spend time outside and not being locked up inside. This disease has cancelled all sporting events and it’s sad that I can’t play the sport I love. We need to take care of each other before we go back to normal life. Getting used to this life is different and weird, we can all do it though. The scary thing is that online shopping is more tempting than ever now. I now eat because I’m bored and can’t go out and now we give fist bumps from 6ft away. It will hopefully be over soon for us to enjoy summer break.