Dublin Core
Title
My Worst Fear Confirmed
Subject
Record of Varoon P's First Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic from March 11-15
Description
Record of Varoon P's First Days of the COVID-19 Pandemic from March 11-15
Creator
Varoon P
Date
March 11-15, 2020
Language
English
Coverage
New Jersey, USA
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
My Worst Fear Confirmed
On March 11th, 2020, COVID-19 was announced as a pandemic, and the world was struck with fear and confusion of what was to come. Not since the Influenza outbreak in 1917 has the world been thrown into a time of comparable economic turmoil and health hysteria. On that day, I found myself at my Rutgers University apartment in Newark, New Jersey, microwaving a cup of Ramen noodles while browsing through social media on my cell phone. I sit down to blow off the steam hovering from the cup, hoping that my first sip won’t burn my tongue off. But as I lifted the cup and fork closer to my mouth, something strange popped up on my feed. The title of the post said: “The WHO has classified COVID-19 as a pandemic,” while linking a statement written by the World Health Organization (WHO). I dropped my cup Ramen upright on the table in shock, accidentally spilling a little of the searing hot soup on my leg but barely even noticing it as I tried to wrap my head around the title of the post. I quickly scanned the article, and my worst fear was confirmed: COVID-19 was here to stay.
The next day, I called my parents and I got ready to move out. Rutgers had announced that spring break would start earlier due to COVID and I decided to use that opportunity to move back home as soon as possible. I said goodbye to all my roommates and friends, knowing full well it would be a long time before I would see them again. When I got home, I unpacked after a long day and just rested out. My family and I were definitely in a bit of a panic. We made sure to get non-perishable foods like canned goods from the supermarket and tried buying some toilet paper, which ended up already sold out. Much of my time for those first few days was spent on FaceTime where I would call my friends up to see how they were doing, what precautions they were taking, and if they knew anyone who had the virus. As a pre-med, I was also deeply interested in the science behind COVID-19, and I read many journal papers and articles online to grasp a better understanding of what this virus was. I also discovered COVID-19 number tracking sites like Worldometer.com that influenced my mood based on whether the number of new cases and deaths each day was rising or falling. The worst part about my experience for the first few days of the Pandemic was how the terrible news of spiking cases was unavoidable because of social media. After those initial days, however, I started to calm down and accept the state of the world and just made sure my family and I followed COVID-19 health guidelines to stay safe.
On March 11th, 2020, COVID-19 was announced as a pandemic, and the world was struck with fear and confusion of what was to come. Not since the Influenza outbreak in 1917 has the world been thrown into a time of comparable economic turmoil and health hysteria. On that day, I found myself at my Rutgers University apartment in Newark, New Jersey, microwaving a cup of Ramen noodles while browsing through social media on my cell phone. I sit down to blow off the steam hovering from the cup, hoping that my first sip won’t burn my tongue off. But as I lifted the cup and fork closer to my mouth, something strange popped up on my feed. The title of the post said: “The WHO has classified COVID-19 as a pandemic,” while linking a statement written by the World Health Organization (WHO). I dropped my cup Ramen upright on the table in shock, accidentally spilling a little of the searing hot soup on my leg but barely even noticing it as I tried to wrap my head around the title of the post. I quickly scanned the article, and my worst fear was confirmed: COVID-19 was here to stay.
The next day, I called my parents and I got ready to move out. Rutgers had announced that spring break would start earlier due to COVID and I decided to use that opportunity to move back home as soon as possible. I said goodbye to all my roommates and friends, knowing full well it would be a long time before I would see them again. When I got home, I unpacked after a long day and just rested out. My family and I were definitely in a bit of a panic. We made sure to get non-perishable foods like canned goods from the supermarket and tried buying some toilet paper, which ended up already sold out. Much of my time for those first few days was spent on FaceTime where I would call my friends up to see how they were doing, what precautions they were taking, and if they knew anyone who had the virus. As a pre-med, I was also deeply interested in the science behind COVID-19, and I read many journal papers and articles online to grasp a better understanding of what this virus was. I also discovered COVID-19 number tracking sites like Worldometer.com that influenced my mood based on whether the number of new cases and deaths each day was rising or falling. The worst part about my experience for the first few days of the Pandemic was how the terrible news of spiking cases was unavoidable because of social media. After those initial days, however, I started to calm down and accept the state of the world and just made sure my family and I followed COVID-19 health guidelines to stay safe.
Original Format
Google Document