Harlyn during COVID 19, 2020-Present.
2020 was the start of a life changing event. It was a life altering pandemic, for almost
everyone. COVID-19 did not only affect my school but my personal life as well. Schools were
shutting down, hospitals were overflowing, loved ones getting sick and passing away, business
shut down, quarantined in your room, all schooling went online, people were not allowed to
gather, masks were mandatory, and even sports were coming to an end. It was the worst world
wide pandemic.
When hearing people talk about COVID 19 you will often hear “It canceled my prom” or
“it canceled my senior year.” Yes, that happened to me too; COVID canceled my prom and my
end of freshman year to sophomore year
however, it did so much more to me. It did stuff
that forever altered my life. I missed out on so
many things and went through some of the
toughest losses. Let me tell you why COVID 19
had a huge hold on me, how I went from a
totally normal life to a massive change in
moments.
Last Family Photo taken and family gathering,
December 2021, before the Pandemic broke out.
To start off 2020, I knew my best friend, grandma, was not doing too well. She had
cancer and a broken arm. She caught COVID and passed soon after the year started. This was
so hard, it killed me knowing she was getting better and then this pandemic ended it. Luckily we
were able to get a Funeral in before gatherings were not allowed. Not soon after, my mom was
diagnosed with Cancer. She had known before but did not tell us until after because she knew
she wanted everyone's full attention on Grandma. This just made us have to be super careful;
At this point in time, the quarantine wasn't super strict, it was just if people wanted to take
precaution. However this meant I was not allowed to do anything to protect my mom from
getting sick, so my quarantine started then.
I had already been out of school for a few months at this point in time. Come June, 2020,
I got another announcement of bad news. My sister, who lives overseas, was getting married! I
had not seen her for a few years, but add on another 2 years to that because my trip to be her
maid of honor got canceled. Travel bans covered the globe. I was not there to see her on her
big day, this broke me. At this same time, my exchange student, Olivia, was sent home to
Denmark. She was told on a Friday and that Sunday she had a flight home. She had been with
us through a lot, and she was one more person to say goodbye too. We all were devastated.
This was the last bad event for the next 4 months.
At this time, club volleyball was about to start, my favorite sport and my mental getaway,
Unfortunately my season got canceled. I continued to be quarantined in my room, glued to
screens because we were unable to go anywhere. I then got wind of my cousin who got very
sick with COVID. He was young and full of life, 25 years old. We were unable to have a funeral,
and I spent the entire time grieving by myself with nothing to take my mind off of it. My
depression got very bad at this time. I spent a lot of time on my own and was unable to do the
things that meant a lot to me. I didn't see my family and I was unable to go to school or have
those teenage experiences. At the end of 2020, my dog had passed; this had nothing to do with
COVID, but it sure did add to my year.
After all this 2021-now did not get any better. Schools were still very empty even after
the ban got lifted. They were sending people home left and right. Masks were mandatory and
people were still online. Everything shut down and we still did not have anything back to
normal. Some businesses are still down to this day and have not reopened and some people
are still affected- even if it's not as serious. COVID 19 really broke a lot in me, and everyone
who lived through it.
Harlyn Heitshsuen,first day back to school after the pandemic gathering ban got lifted.
