1 Mitchell

Jacere Mitchell
Breithaupt
English 101
1 September 2022
The quarantine class of 2020

A challenge I faced in life was keeping my faith when I felt like everything was turning

for the worst. In March 2020 I’ll never forget the day I went to work after school like a normal

day and felt like my life immediately changed in seconds. I received multiple text messages from

friends and even schoolteachers saying that school had been shut down due to a new virus called

Covid-19. Covid-19 is an infectious disease caused by the SAR-COV-2 virus. There are many

symptoms of the disease, and anyone can catch it. I was so scared and confused wondering to

myself what was going on. I did hear about the virus a couple of times but never thought I was in

danger.

My first question when I received those messages was “What about the rest of my senior

year?” My mom and I spent so much money on prom, senior trips, and everything I needed to

graduate. Everybody told me and my classmates not to worry about anything, everything will

still go as planned but it was still devastating. Weeks later still nothing. Another update from the

school board was set that the school year had been canceled until further notice. That’s when I

knew it was over. Everything I waited my whole high school years for had been ripped from me

instantly. No senior week, no pranks, no prom, no last goodbyes nothing. I remember just crying

and being so sad because I wanted a perfect senior year, and it was ruined. It was like I was

living a dream. I didn’t know what was going to happen next.

2 Mitchell

A month later April 19th I received my very first car from my mom I was so excited. I

wanted a car so bad that I could finally drive myself to school and work and just have fun with

my friends. Me not knowing that was ruined too. Everything eventually started to shut down.

Multiple businesses that weren’t essential for others weren’t allowed to open. Fast forward to it

being the beginning of May, which was senior pictures time. I decided to take my senior pictures

because I wanted some type of memory to remember my final year in high school. However, my

experience wasn’t normal because me and the photographer couldn’t get close to each other due

to the virus, but they still came out perfect. It was a beautiful memory that I won’t forget.

Now it’s finally May 15th still no graduation date. Before the virus was thought about,

graduation was originally scheduled for May 24th. All over social media, there were people from

different schools saying how they weren’t having any graduation. I just knew that was going to

be me and my classmates. Finally, days later we received an email to come to pick up our

diplomas from school and our graduation tickets. Graduation was scheduled for May 26th each

graduate was only allowed 2 family members to come to the ceremony. We weren’t allowed to

walk across the stage we had to stand up when our name was called. I’ll never forget that day. It

was so bittersweet but also so heartbreaking to know that’s how my senior year ended. I was still

very thankful that my classmates and I were able to get together as a class for the very last time.

My friends and I celebrated and tried to make the best of it.

Covid-19 made everything so different, nothing felt normal anymore, and everything

changed for the worst. Cases started to rise even higher, many people were in the hospital.

Multiple families had to deal with death because of this horrible disease. I was only 19 so I had

never experienced anything so scary like that before. Everyone had to wear masks and gloves to

prevent catching Covid-19. It didn’t seem like anything was going to get better anytime soon.
3 Mitchell

My job stopped giving me hours, so I was basically out of a job. I only had one day out of the

month on the schedule. I didn’t know what to do, I asked for more hours but wasn’t able to

receive any. It was so hard not being on the schedule knowing I needed to work. I couldn’t enjoy

the rest of my summer because I didn’t have any money. My summer was so different, I

couldn’t have fun and go anywhere with my friends. I was in quarantine the whole summer. I

thought 2020 was going to be the best year of my life, but it was absolutely the worst.

Overall, throughout the whole process, I stayed strong. Covid-19 happening taught me so

much about just life in general. It showed me that things can change in a blink of an eye, so you

should never get comfortable. Having no job taught me to always save some money even if it’s a

little. And still, until this day, I live by the saying “Anything can happen in life, but you have to

keep going.” Covid-19 made me wiser and stronger. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but I am glad

I was able to experience something that gave me a true lesson. However, I’m grateful I’m here

today to tell my story and to show others to never take the little things for granted.