It Never Leaves My Mind
By Pablo
Student, South Mountain Community College
To be honest I don’t believe I have ever faced a challenge like this one. I have gone to being very organized to having a bit of a messy schedule day to day. I had a job at an office but was closed since the beginning of April due to the fear of spreading, I have had to rely on more manual labor. Though I am a full-time student, I sometimes have to work a bit more since my two younger sisters live with me. It has proven to be hard to find a job that can work around my hours and also fit to keep my budget in check. I often have to work more than 40 hours a week just so I can make sure that if I was to be let go, I have enough money until I find a new job. Before this epidemic, I was able to come up with the rent, groceries, and also my school payment before halfway through the month, and now I have to begin saving from the beginning all the way to end of the month in order to just make it by without missing all of my payments.
I have even made changes in my grocery shopping. I have gone from shopping once a week to now once a month. I know it’s a bad idea or selfish to “mass hoard food,” but I truly fear that with all the prices going up on meat, milk, eggs, and with limits now in place that if it got worse I will not be able to feed my younger sisters. I buy only what we need and to be honest nothing goes to waste. I have learned how to store meat, vegetables, etc. since one of the recent jobs I have acquired was a slaughterhouse. This helps me a lot because even though I am living pay check to pay check, by one going to rent, the other to school and groceries, I am able to provide enough for my sisters and myself for the time being with the things we need and also having a little extra in the case of emergency. This in turn though has led to my scheduling to be on more of a open schedule.
Even though there is a lot going on at the moment, the fact that I am a student never leaves my mind. I would be lying if I said I had it all figured out, with all this going on I began to forget about assignments in school, and would sometimes miss the deadline. Though there is no real excuse to this actions, I sometimes put to much on my plate and can’t finish everything on it. Yet, I have noticed how my thinking process has changed. Instead of beating myself about it like I use to, this epidemic has shown me that there really isn’t time to feel sorry for yourself. Instead I think it as a challenge to better myself my show myself that what I face is what I make of it. I have to grab my bearings, and keep moving forward for myself and for my sisters. It has made me more of a problem solver not only to find a more sustainable way of living, but one where I know my sisters and my very own well being will strive.
So even though the Covid-19 Epidemic had impacted me I often think of the life’s that were lost and how their loved one’s lives were impacted. The doctors and nurses around the world putting their own health in danger just to keep other human being alive. My life has been impacted but I think it is just as important to look at the bigger picture.
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