Corona has changed my life forever. Not only has it affected me but it has affected everyone in the world. Corona affected me by taking away my senior year. No grad night, no senior breakfast and worst of all no real graduation. It also got me laid off from my job Along with my parents and millions of other Americans. And I don’t think anyone was prepared for it.It affected my whole family not being able to go see each other on the weekends not being able to interact with people because we were scared of spreading the disease we might have. It’s like something straight out of a movie and we never thought this would happen. I remember joking around with my friends before we went on spring break saying that this might be the last day that we see each other because of corona and celebrating. But then when I actually was the case I think the whole 2020 class stopped celebrating. It’s sad that we never got to celebrate graduating from high school, at least formally we didn’t. I never got to walk across the stage as I was handed my diploma while the announcer saying my name. I never got to experience going to Disneyland at midnight with my friends. I never got to experience all the memories we would’ve made in the final months in high school. And all because of the pandemic that was happening. millions of people also lost their jobs because of this pandemic. I personally lost my job at Discount Tire for about two months and no I did not get unemployment. I was actually denied unemployment by the state of California. So it really took a dip in my bank account but that’s ok because I don’t have to pay too many bills yet. As a result of this pandemic my parents also got laid off from their jobs or had to work from home for a little. My mom being a preschool teacher had to make lesson plans for preschoolers to do at home. The amount of stuff that she had to do is ridiculous considering that most of the students won’t do it anyways . My father who is also a teacher in a correctional facility was also forced to work from home four days out of the work week. He will go in one day a week to see if they have any papers for him then come back home. The hardest part about this Whole pandemic For me has been not being able to really finish my senior year. It’s really sad that I will never be able to show my kids pictures of me walking through the stage as I hope they will one day . Something good that I have gained from this is getting closer to those I love and spending more time with them. I really now have a closer bond to my girlfriend and it seems like we’re inseparable now. When it came time for my graduation it was very interesting. My school didn’t have a normal graduation. We had a drive-thru. All the teachers lined up in the student parking lot as we the students drove with our families up and down the lanes waiting for the end when we could get our diplomas. I have to admit it was very smart of them to do that considering we couldn’t have a real graduation. I guess something is better than nothing. Me and my family still celebrated and had a little party for me the day after nothing too big we were just hanging out.I believe that from this point forward our lives are going to change forever. I don’t think we will ever really go back to normal and there will always be some kind of social distancing or an extra precautionary measure to try and keep the spread of this down.I also believe that people will now be wearing masks more since we were ordered to in California. But I believe that even when this is over or it dies down people will still be wearing masks because they will be scared of getting this virus and the effects that it can have on you or family members/ loved one .
Submitted by Danny Cornejo, San Diego County – San Diego.