3.18.20

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I am staring at this photo taken of me the day before I left for abroad.

I was hungover after a night of drinking for my last day at Chapman with all my friends before getting shipped off to London.

I am eating a sandwich from D-plus, sporting a “nice as heck” jacket and cheers “ing” the camera with my D-plus sandwich.

My dad had just dropped me off at the airport before my trip to London and made the joke along the lines of “hope you don’t get sent home early because of coronavirus”.

At the time it was a joke, actually it was my first ever even hearing the world's “coronavirus”.

And now we are living it.

We are living during a war with a disease and a recession happening all at the same time.

At first I was just bummed that my abroad experience got cut short.

But in a matter of days those depressing thoughts felt like minor inconveniences.

People are losing their jobs, summer internships are getting cancelled, restaurants are closing, entire cities and even countries are on complete lockdown, economies are crashing, and people are dying.

It feels like we are living in some sort of temporary hell, a purgatory, almost. With absolutely no control over our lives.

For a while I felt like I could do anything. I controlled my life and my decision making and now I don’t.

Abroad got cancelled, my plans to return Chapman for spring cancelled, my summer in New York City probably cancelled.

The world has another plan for all of us right now, not sure what all that means yet.

But we need to keep sending love, stay safe, be grateful, support local business, reflect.

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