By Charlie, 20, South Portland, Maine
The coronavirus has impacted almost every aspect of daily life. What I do for fun, how I exercise, how I get my groceries, how I interact with people. These have all transformed significantly due to coronavirus.
This time last year I would be spending my days at Bates College happily interacting with my best friends and fellow classmates. Now I spend the day fearing that the same type of interaction could jeopardize my life or a family members. Like I had a routine at school, I have a new one for my life at home; make sure online school work is done, some form of exercise or exposure to the outdoors, have dinner with my family, talk to my friends via social media, go to bed, repeat. It’s not just the routine that's changed but also how these things are done. For instance, I can no longer go to a gym to workout, and am now limited to only running and bodyweight workouts.
The only light I've observed in all this darkness is the fact that this has forced people to take a step back from our technological induced world and become a little more in touch with nature. Due to limitations on social behavior people are turning to the natural world as a source of entertainment. People are getting outside more frequently and experiencing more of what our planet has to offer. While this new found appreciation of our planet is definitely a good thing, I find that the barriers on social behavior and interactions outweighs the good that comes from being more in tune with nature.
The world is in the midst of likely one of the most impactful events in history. Tens of thousands of people dead, with tens of thousand more in critical condition. Not to mention the biggest economic crash in history, putting more people into unemployment than ever before. I’ve already noticed impacts on my generation in the sense that all of my friends' summer internships have been canceled and with good reason. If companies are letting go valuable adult workers why would they hire interns?
I fear that because of how long it will take the economy to get back up and running, it will make things especially difficult for my generation to get jobs out of college. Although it depends on the field of interest. I think that for at least a year or two we will still be seeing global repercussions from this disaster but can hopefully return to a normal way of life. Additionally, I hope this better prepares us for future potential pandemics.