Biography of the Quarantine


As soon as I began counting down the days until the end of my undergraduate career, life took a drastic change and decided that despite all my years of dedication to my education and to my sport, there was a different plan in store for my future. There were several things that I would not experience, things that I had dreamed of since I was a kid; I would no longer be able to finish my collegiate career as an athlete the way I had always envisioned it, I would no longer be able to have a college graduation ceremony where my family and friends could watch me walk across a stage and receive my diploma, I would not be able to have the dream wedding that my fiancée and I had been planning for almost 8 months. Though it seemed as if I could not catch a break, and felt as if my world was getting tossed around in a dryer, I began to realize that for the first time in my life, everyone on the entire planet has become connected in a way that no one could have ever even thought of. While I sat for a few days thinking about my own misfortunes, I knew that everybody was facing new challenges and different hardships in their own lives due to the pandemic. I figured that I could not be negative about the situation, because for once in my life, everyone is experiencing the same pain that I am. This concept of a united planet is something we only ever hear about in movies and stories, but what if this global event had the ability to end wars and unite civilization? I began pondering other questions as well. What if this pandemic changes healthcare forever? Will it become better or worse because of this? When is the next pandemic heading our way? I kept trying to find answers to these questions through discussions with my family members and even in contacting some of the teachers I have had over the years. I began to realize that maybe the whole making lemonade out of lemons metaphor was beginning to take place over an entire planet. I found that I had to find happiness in all the negativity to let myself know that everything was going to be okay moving forward. I am now happy and extremely excited for the future, and have been able to brush myself off from what felt like the longest two months of my life.   
This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses. Note the spikes that adorn the outer surface of the virus, which impart the look of a corona surrounding the virion, when viewed electron microscopically. A novel coronavirus, named Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China in 2019. The illness caused by this virus has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). [CDC Image - Photo Credit: Alissa Eckert, MS; Dan Higgins, MAM]
2020 in one picture
credit: State.Gov
Authors note: I decided to write a biography about myself based on the challenges that have presented themselves throughout the end of my senior year in college, and perhaps during one of the most interesting times of history. I wrote in a past tense and described my very own beliefs on the COVID 19 pandemic through a first person point of view. The story goes on to describe the events that took place in my own life, along with portraying some of the most important questions I have been able to think of during this isolation period.

Comments

  1. Hi Randy!

    Thank you so much for this relevant and thought provoking biography post. I feel so sorry for all of the seniors this year who are missing out on so much... I have a lot of senior friends who I wasn't able to say a proper goodbye to and I am mourning that time with my friends I took so much for granted. We all did, I'd say. I liked what you said about this pandemic uniting the planet. I think, I hope, that we come out on the other side we no longer take the small moments for granted. I wish you the best of luck after graduation, and I hope you're able to have the most perfect wedding some day soon.

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