BLOG: Concerns and challenges while enduring COVID-19

By Zebesian Lunz On May 2, 2020 112 0

At the beginning of the semester, my concerns were more focused on how I was going to make it through the semester with my sanity.

I was taking three classes at UHCL and one class at San Jacinto College online. At the same time, I had to also balance my internship and working on the weekends. Also, I live with my grandfather and towards the end of the last semester, he has become wheelchair-bound.

This means that I needed to get him out of bed every morning and take him to the restroom. While my brother took care of him in the afternoon. I just had a lot on my plate and felt I was being spread very thin.

Then COVID-19 hit and I was able to take a long vacation, which was nice. However, once school started again, it was hard to get back into the groove of things. Especially because I’m not an online kind of student, so it took a lot to get back into it.

One thing I had to teach myself was pretending that I was still going to class. For example, I would wake up at 10 a.m. and sit in my computer chair to dedicate “class time” to do school work. That tended to get me back on track.

This is the same for my internship, as I was able to do it from home with the same tactics. Even though I prefer to be in a classroom, COVID-19 has freed my schedule up a lot and has made me less stressed.

There were good and bad things that came with this pandemic for me. Some bad things are for one, by working as a delivery driver, I’m not only putting myself but my grandfather at higher risk of getting COVID-19.

Unfortunately, I am unable to just quit because I need the money and I don’t think I’d be eligible for unemployment. Also, my grades have suffered a bit because of my not being able to just immediately work from home.

However, some good things are that I think that I’ve gotten better at doing schoolwork at home without having to be in a school environment. Also, I’ve been able to be there for my grandfather even more, giving my brother and me an equal amount of responsibility. And most importantly, I have my sanity.