Things are Different Now

MacKenzie Noppe, Writer

I’m a high school student who has been robbed of my senior year. This year of 2020, was suppose to be a great year. Events like prom, senior skip day, and even graduation are most likely unrealistic at this point. Instead of going to school every day, we are all stuck at home, doing online schooling, and being bored. 

My usual schedule was going to school every day until noon-thirty, then I would go home for lunch, and do some cleaning around the house, then I’d make my way to work, and then finally, I’d come home to do homework or spend the rest of my night with family and friends, or simply by myself doing school work. Now, I have to watch my brother every day and help him with his homework, do my homework, and clean the house.

 I’m also still working, which is nice because I’m getting paid, and I really need money for college, but it’s also really scary to me. It seems that every day the virus just keeps increasingly getting worse. It’s scary to know it’s progressing fast, especially because the sales at work have been sky-rocketing. People are honestly coming into the store and getting unnecessary items. For me, it’s hard to understand why so many people are coming into the store knowing the virus is very contagious. We are on quarantine for a reason. And many customers seem to forget why. Not to mention the customers have been extremely rude lately. It’s hard for me to keep my chill just because dealing with rude customers isn’t ever fun and personally, I don’t want to be in a bad mood all day at work. 

This virus has caused many of my coworkers to not want to be at work anymore. I completely understand why and personally I’d be at home too, if I was getting paid. So not only has work been crazy in general, but we’ve been understaffed since the virus became serious. My work has been working me more than usual, which the money is nice, but like I said, it really is scary. I’m putting my life at risk basically every day, and we aren’t even getting hazardous pay. 

Watching my brother every day is challenging just because he’s still so young, and needs help with almost everything. Plus, when I have to help him with his school work, most of the time, he doesn’t remember the materials he’s learned or he simply just doesn’t understand the assignment, and I have to walk him through it. Of course I want to help my brother, but it’s hard when I have a lot of homework and chores to do, and to make sure I’m at work on time. 

My schedule is somewhat the same in the sense that I’m still in school, still working, and still doing chores around the house, but I’m still stressed and honestly upset just because we can’t go outside and do different activities. It’s hard not seeing friends and family. This past Easter wasn’t even worth celebrating because we couldn’t do anything- we didn’t even do a dinner.

 I hope this virus clears up soon, but I have a feeling that it’s going to get worse before it gets better. I’m prepared for the cancelation of prom and even graduation. I just want to be able to get my diploma and graduate on time, even if it means finishing the school year online.