By Kayla Hallac, Staff Writer
We all expect about a week off from school because of the annual hurricane season. We may even expect a couple of snow day gifts, when we can stay home from school and snuggle in our beds.
But we don’t expect a global pandemic. The 1300s Black Plague seems like mere history in our minds. Who could have imagined a cascade of cancellations, months off school, and what seems like an eternity of boredom and fear spreading across the world?
And that is why this situation is unique from any other.
“During the time that I have spent on this planet, our global society has faced wars, political upheaval, famines, natural disasters, civil rights protests/riots, epidemics, Y2K, 9-11, other terrorist attacks and school shootings,” First Flight social studies teacher, Adam Herman said. “However nothing previously seems to be this far reaching, impacting so many aspects of our lives.”
The fact that nothing compares to this situation creates a feeling of uncertainty for everyone. A functioning vaccine won’t be available for another year at the earliest. We only have predictions of how many people will be infected or when life will go back to what we took for granted as being “normal.”
“We are still doing school, we can still talk to people over social media and everything is working like electricity, water and cable. It all seems normal but it isn’t,” sophomore Brylie King said.
The normality of the situation isn’t the only thing that is off, but so is our daily lives. In no other situation would we go from a full schedule, for most people, to total quarantine, in one quick week.
“The pandemic, COVID -19, is a hidden threat that has affected almost everyone in profound ways,” Herman said. “Civilization as a whole, including the global economy and jobs, major societal institutions including education and religion and our cultural norms have all taken a back seat to slow the curve to try to prevent our health care providers services from becoming overwhelmed.”
The disruptions across the board have been hard for many.
King isn’t related to or in contact with anyone who has COVID-19, but the situation’s uncertainty still strongly affects her life.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen with school or with prom. I don’t even know if my sister is going to have her graduation ceremony, and that has to be the hardest part,” King said.
Despite the challenges and uncertainty at hand, the community has rallied. After just the first week of being out of school, our schools have moved mountains and created stability in our lives by quickly transitions to online school, some online sports, and a plan.
“Always be prepared — we’re lucky here on the OBX in that we have that survival plan/instinct in place due to hurricanes,” Herman said.
This crisis has affected all of us. It will be something we look back on together, when life returns to normal; however, maybe even normal will be different. Right now, we have to band together to stay home and healthy, for the well being of the entire country.
Sophomore Kayla Hallac can be reached at 22hallacka85@daretolearn.org.
