I can remember my last day of high school, March 13th, 2020. It was a Wednesday, and I was feeling awful that day. I had trouble breathing, had the chills, and had a horrible headache. I left school early that day to rest up, and little did I know that this was my final day at my high school. At the time, there had been only a handful of COIVD-19 cases throughout the United States, so it’d never occur to me that we will have to shut down the school for a least a period. I came home, went to bed, and woke up feeling worse. I checked the updates on my phone of how the coronavirus is impacting the U.S and the world, and at this time, Italy and Spain were the epicenters of the virus. I then checked in on my classmate’s social media, and everything seemed familiar. I then retook a nap, and when I woke up again, the entire world changed. The first saw on my phone was an email, noticing my teammates and me that the baseball season was canceled. I was heartbroken since this was my final season. A season that I worked hard to get to and a season full of promise, all gone. Then I saw that the NBA season was suspended. This was due to a Utah Jazz player being infected with COIVD-19, the first professional out of the sports leagues to be positive. The MLB, MLS, and others suspended hours later. The final nail to the coffin was my school’s email informing me that school will be suspended after the current week. At first, I was glad. Since it was a week before spring break, so we treated this as an extra week break. Then came Friday the 18th. The president announces that travel to Europe had been suspended,d and the federal government will be deploying national guards for COIVD relief efforts. This was also the same day when the Califonia government officially shut down the state. Therefore, my family’s coffee business would be heavily affected. We had to tell our workers to go home and stay safe while our family had to fathom that we would have to close for a while. We were devastated. I had no idea what we were in for. I went to bed, feeling better physically but feeling devastated mentally. I had come with the expectation that we’d be in a long hall of trouble and suffering due to this. This was short-lived as when I woke up to a text from my parents to come in and work, I was confused. I got ready and went in to find out that the only people working were my parents. I quickly joined in and severed each customer. My cousins later joined in, and from each day on, I went in and did the same thing; work for the survival of my family’s 25-year business. I’m still going in to work every day, with one day off a week. This entire year has taught me many lessons. How to sacrifice for family, how to be more responsible, and how to overcome a pandemic.
Submitted by Leonardo Morales, San Diego County – Chula Vista.