Draft #4
Morgan Lindsey
Project #3
English 110
What I’ve learned, What I’m learning
Pandemic, a global outbreak of an illness or disease. In our present time we are facing a pandemic. This pandemic has caused lots of fear in the world. People are scared to leave their houses. When this disease started in China and I didn’t think much of it when I first heard about it. I thought that since it was on the other side of the world and it won’t hit me. A few weeks later we had our first case in the US in Washington State. I still didn’t think much of it. It was on the opposite side of the country and no one normally goes to Maine unless it’s the summer or they live here. I also felt like they would be able to contain the disease before it reached this side of the country. Maine managed to stay pretty clear of the Coronavirus until it finally hit New Hampshire, then I knew it would be in Maine in no time. But before it had hit New Hampshire a lot of schools were closing and switching to an online format. I didn’t think UNE would switch until it hit Maine. Even then I didn’t think it would close until it was at least in Portland. Every email from president Herbert made it seem that even if the virus hit Maine, we would not close the school. UNE was one of the last universities to close in Maine. I kept getting messages from my friends who attend different colleges and universities saying that they had to pack up their belongings and move back home.
I’m not normally one to get scared of getting sick. I tend to get colds pretty easily and I just have to deal with them. Once the virus hit the US all my social media platforms were about how I shouldn’t be scared of the Coronavirus because all it is an extreme cold and that it is only deadly to those who have weak immune systems and elderly citizens. In Knox county Maine there have been 10 cases, 4 recoveries, and no deaths. Even now that the virus is in the county, I live I’m still not as worried about myself as I am for my family members. I have a few family members that are in the medical field and that I have been very worried about. My sister in law works as a nurse at the Boston hospital and is pregnant. I have a cousin who is also in the medical field that is also pregnant. We had just gone to her baby shower before Maine put in place a stay at home order.
Throughout this quarantine and pandemic, I’ve learned a couple things about myself. First thing, I miss being around my friends and having the freedom I have while at school. Second thing, I should be more scared about this virus. And third, this virus and pandemic could be a lot worse.
Over this whole quarantine I realized that I miss being with my friends on campus. I never really enjoyed being on campus while I was there. I would always go home on the weekends because I hated being at school. But now that I’m home I noticed that I miss certain aspects about being at school. I miss being able to go where I wanted when I wanted, I miss having meals at the dining hall, even though they weren’t always that great. But most importantly I miss my friends. Most of my friends on campus live in different states, so it’s a bit hard to really meet up or hang out when we aren’t on campus. This quarantine has also prevented me from seeing a lot of my family members. My nephew is due this month, but because of the Corona and quarantine we aren’t able to go see him once he is born.
This virus is pretty serious. In the US alone there have been 576,695 cases, 42,223 recoveries, and 23,068 deaths. Worldwide there have been 1,897,373 cases, 444,492 recoveries, and 118,304 deaths. The US leads in number of cases and deaths, followed by Spain then Italy. There are so many reasons I should be scared of this virus for myself, but I’m not. I think is one of those times where reality has yet to sink in. I feel like many of my fellow classmates feel the same way. Is Morgan Segrest’s What I’m Learning essay she says, “Life right now feels like a bad science fiction movie or like we’re all in this game where someone is trying to find a way to wipe out the world’s population” (Morgan). I feel like this is how we all feel. It doesn’t feel real or that this is actually happening.
Despite all we are struggling with, there have been many pandemics much worse than this. In 1918 we experienced the flu pandemic in the U.S. WW1, so most doctors and nurses were out aiding our soldiers. Most of the medical personnel that were still here were volunteers. They also weren’t as advanced in vaccines and antibiotics. For this current pandemic we have many nurses and doctors working every day to help the citizens. My sister in law and cousin are both pregnant and working in the medical field. I also have a lot of friends here at home that are nurses at local nursing homes and at the hospital. My fellow classmate Danielle has a sister in the medical field as well. Her sister works in the intensive care unit at Harford Hospital in Connecticut (Danielle). I’m sure there are many others that have family in medical work.
The 1918 flu pandemic was also a lot more gruesome. People were dying on the streets and their bodies were left there. One of the survivors of the pandemic told a story to her son Drew about her childhood during that time. Drew says that when his mother was a child, she remembers being home sick and going out onto her patio.When she was on the patio she looked out across the street and saw her neighbors, but it was just her neighbors’ bodies. They had died because of the flu (Jeanne Shinnick)[ML1] . There were bodies of the deceased scattered around the yards and street sides. No one was picking up the bodies so when you looked outside that is what you saw.
