I Can Still Manage
By Anthony
Student, South Mountain Community College
This COVID-19 pandemic obviously has the world in a shock at the moment. There are a lot of other effects this virus has on individuals that cause complications. My life has dramatically changed due to this virus and it has required a lot of adjustment.
At South Mountain Community College, I take about 13 credits which adds up to about 4 classes. All of my classes are online this semester due to me just moving to Phoenix a few months ago and not knowing how moving to Phoenix and work would affect my ability to attend school. The course work has been relatively the same since the virus has set its footprint on society, I only received a few more assignments due to the virus. Other than that, my classes still remain active and mostly on-schedule which is good considering the changes going on.
My ability to spend as much time on school is being limited and has been decreasing the further time progresses due to my jobs. I will continue to try my hardest and work as much as I can in order to earn good grades in my courses as well as be on time for participation. I also have an essential full-time job that I truly enjoy and still attend. I work for a government agency, which is deemed essential. This is justified, but now due to the virus we have been working a lot harder and pulling in more hours. I am a supervisor and this virus has made the job a bit tougher due to a lot of my team calling out “sick” or just not showing up to work. This makes the work load a lot heavier on us who actually do our jobs. The reason I quoted “sick” is because some employees have said they do not feel well, but in actuality they are using this as an excuse to get out of working so they go out and watch TV or go swimming or something. I genuinely think that is ungrateful as well due to the amount of lay offs the country has experienced, yet many employees have become too lazy to show up to work.
My job also has hundreds of people in one building, which is a total breeding ground if this virus ever entered into the facility. I am also in the state National Guard. We have an upcoming work-from-home drill which may be beneficial to people and I truly enjoy it. This does cause a lot of issues with training that we were previously planning and now have to postpone or still think of a solution on how this training or mission can get done due to us not physically attending this drill. I also have two other small-like jobs that I try to fit in with my schedule. They have both been cancelled due to the virus. One gig was working with a company and potentially becoming a writer. They were helping train me and get a job through them but due to this virus they cancelled all of it until further notice.
All in all my life has changed drastically due to this pandemic and some of the changes make it harder as a student and some changes are a load off of my shoulders. I would not use the virus as an excuse personally for lack of work or anything of the sort when it comes to school. I can still manage my courses I signed up for and it may cause me to work harder but so be it.
Written: Spring 2020
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