By: Njeri Jackson

I still remember the first day that we had off of school that day in March 2020. I don’t think anyone, including myself, knew just how crazy everything was going to get with Covid. It’s been nearly two years now, and I can’t believe everything that we’ve been through. I’ve dealt with so much in my personal life over that time, and I don’t think I even realized just how impactful Covid was until after the pandemic started to quiet down. However, things are picking up yet again as we enter 2022 and I’m pretty sure I’m not ready for it.

It’s old, but I don’t personally have a problem with the policy on masks. I do understand why people wouldn’t want to wear them. It’s annoying to be wearing a mask for six to eight hours a day. I think that people should ultimately have a choice whether they wish to wear one or not, simply because it’s largely in schools where there’s that requirement; but plenty of businesses make masks optional. I get that there’s more people and it’s not the same, but there’s too many kids to social distance anyways so what’s the point anymore is what I say. I would choose to wear a mask, which is why I don’t have a problem with the policy, but I fully acknowledge that there’s people on the other side that don’t really get a say, so I think they deserve something. I think, in general, that there has been a lot of disputes over the policies with wearing a mask, getting vaccinated, and what regulations should be in place. I believe that ultimately everyone is going to have their own opinions on these policies, but I don’t think that everyone will ever come to agree on anything. 

I don’t particularly agree with the backlash that certain people get for having the “minority” opinion on Covid related issues. I don’t think it’s appropriate to harass people because they don’t have the vaccine. I don’t think it’s right to have the vaccine mandated. People should be able to make that choice on their own, specifically for this vaccine. If people don’t want to get it, leave them alone; they’re the ones that want to risk it. It’s not right to be placed with the choice of getting vaccinated or losing your job. Why hurt a family because they won’t take a vaccine? If someone wants to be vaccinated, that’s great for them. That’s their own choice, but I fully believe it’s against people’s free will to force them into getting the vaccine. I’m not pro vaccine or anti vaccine, I’m simply saying that people should have the right to choose.

As of most recently, there has been a lot going on with the omicron variant, booster shots, and new policies in place. Omicron seems to be spreading quite rapidly, and a lot of people are getting Covid now. People are also getting booster shots to help with the new variant, and it feels like the CDC seems to be changing its recommendations week by week. They’ve changed the isolation period to five days, and to be honest I’m just always confused by what the CDC says at this point because everything is always changing in the most confusing way. I still don’t get why the isolation period decreased when the cases of covid increased, but they’re the experts so they must know what’s best I guess. I also don’t really understand why school decided to postpone clubs for a couple weeks, but sports can go on; that really doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t care if sports bring attention to the school, that doesn’t devalue clubs. If sports can happen where there’s literally a higher risk to catch Covid, clubs should be able to happen.

The fact that we are about to have a new governor is also not going to make this situation any less complicated, in fact I predict that it’s going to be a shift simply because the parties are changing. Most parties have a general agreement with certain Covid related policies, so I don’t have any doubt we’re in for something different. I think that politics sometimes gets in the way of actually doing good for the people because most of the time it feels like it just divides everyone. 

As a student living through all of this, I’m very lost and fed up with everything going on. I keep living life like there won’t be a normal future because everything around me is so crazy. I am not looking forward to figuring out how to deal with Covid as I move on to college this fall. I’m not hyped up about the rest of the year because as far as I know, they’ll put us online again. I had so much trauma over winter break from barely leaving my house that it gave me awful flashbacks to the lockdown; I was so disoriented and felt like I was losing my mind. The sad thing was it was only two weeks, I can’t imagine how I dealt with this for more than that. I think that we’re truly living in a place where everyday is an actual mystery because no one knows exactly what’s happening with Covid. I can’t really imagine a day where we aren’t wearing masks, where there’s no arguing over Covid, and there’s no social distancing; it’s only been like two years, but it’s impact feels like it’s going to be with me for the next 20 years.