Before Coronavirus this was my first semester here at the Univerity of Hawaii at Manoa as I had just graduated with my Associates Degree from Community College. This semester I was excited to network around with different people in my classes and I was excited to work on campus doing something related to my major. When the semester started I remember in ICS 314 my Software Engineering class where we were going over how will we (us students) be successful in the class. Mostly students were saying things such as “keeping up with the work” and “not procrastinating” which are also important but what ended up standing out was “not getting sick.” At the time we heard of a virus that had just got out in china but we were not worried as we thought it would be contained and we would be ok but we were wrong.
The week before spring break life was normal with UH having its usual sports events going on at the Stan Sheriff Center but that friday March 6th we got our first case of Coronavirus here in the state of Hawaii but many people still felt secure. One week later we started to get the same Toilet Paper lines (really guys stop hoarding toilet paper) as the rest of the country. From there the University declared that classes would be held online for the rest of the semester. That final week before spring break felt really uncertain on what was going to happen. “How long would this last?” we all thought. Seniors getting the worst of it having their graduation canceled as I also had my graduation canceled. But now as we are all on lockdown how has my life been. Positives so far have been being able to just sit at home and do everything, not having to wake up at 6 am to get my bus to University for my class at 9:30 class. Negatives have been not being able to see my friends, have lunch with classmates, and being in class and learning. But with this lockdown it makes me appreciate all the moments I spent with friends. But also made me realize that saying “next time” may not come there were a lot of things that I said “maybe next time” that I wish I did at that moment.
I understand that lockdown may suck right now and I don’t blame you if you feel this way I swear the past 16 days so far just sitting at home is boring but we have to do it to make sure that we don’t get coronavirus, the people we care about don’t get the virus also, and most importantly that our first responders and medical staff can treat as much of us as possible so we can keep our mortality rate low. Knowing that I understand that our lives won’t return to normal anytime soon but until then we can start making the most of it currently I’m reading books that I bought but never had time to read. But overall we will get through this just like previous pandemics and crises.