Throughout my life, I’d say I have conditioned myself to always respond with the basic “good” when someone asks how I am. It’s short, sweet, and proves I’m not currently suffering from an internal mental breakdown at the hands of immense and unavoidable stress. But right now, however, I am not “good”. My life, as well as millions of others, has been uprooted and tossed around mercilessly by a small, undetectable by the naked eye, pathogen. When you think about it, it is odd that something so small, something we should logically have so much power over, is causing so wreaking so much havoc in our lives. This thing being COVID-19.
This situation is hard for me, as I’m sure it similarly is for others, in a way that I am unhappy with what has come out of this pandemic, but I also acknowledge the fact that it could be so much worse. I am disappointed with being forced to leave a college and the people I was so fond of, having to stay in my house for an undetermined period of time, and not having anything to do other than school, but I try to stay positive for two reasons. One, I cannot change this situation, so having a negative mindset about it will do nothing but bring me down. And two, so many other people in the world are facing challenges that are 10x worse than what I am going through because of this pandemic.
I’m not one to ignore my own feelings or diminish them because “someone out there has it worse”, so at times I’m not really sure how to handle this situation. In general, the only things that this pandemic cost me are privileges (like college and mental sanity for example), so I am thankful that nothing serious has been put at risk. However, I cannot ignore how distraught I have felt due to the changes I have faced over the past three weeks. It is undeniably hard to leave something behind so quickly and so unexpectedly, and to have your life change so dramatically in a short period of time.
So in general I’m not too “good”, but I am staying positive, realizing that things could be much, much worse, and remembering that things will get better soon.
English 110 Honors Spring 2020 
I feel like most people wold agree with what you wrote. Although most of us do not feel especially “good”, we are hanging in there, taking on each day as it comes. I like what you wrote in the third paragraph, where you said that just because other people might have it worse does not mean you have to shrug off your own feelings. As my parents would say, it’s not a competition, and everyone is just as entitled to their own opinion as the next. It’s good to hear you are staying positive. We cannot control what’s going on in the world, but we can control our mindset.
-Chris Metzler
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“Immense and unavoidable stress” is the perfect way to put it. It is so difficult to know how to feel in this time, especially when comparing your feelings to those of others. I agree that although some have it much worse, the sadness we are feeling is absolutely valid. I appreciate that you have found a way to stay positive in the face of change, and I have been trying my best to do the same. I found it interesting how you compared the literal size of the pathogen to the immense impact is has had; this really put into perspective how much things changed in the blink of an eye.
-Danielle Hoban
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“I can understand your disappointment and I’m sure many of us are also saddened by the fact we had to leave campus so abruptly. It sort of felt like life was going in fast forward these past three weeks and it’s not unreasonable that you have felt this way. I, personally, was having a bit of trouble adjusting to having everything online as well as focusing on work while being at home. We just have to remember to keep moving forward, it won’t stay this bad forever! I hope you and your family continue to stay safe! :)” -Ciana Gadut
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