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How is the coronavirus pandemic affecting your life right now? Tell us about your experiences, feelings, and thoughts.

Coronavirus is affecting me right now not that bad. I live in a very rural village. Not even considered a town. Many of the residences of the town are republicans so they do not wear masks. Many places also do not require masks. It has been an interesting experience. I feel as though people in my small town are not too worried about covid because there are not many cases where I am at. However, I did have covid for an entire month. I had to stay at my house away from the rest of society. I had no symptoms but I just tested positive. It was extremely frustrating because I did not feel sick. I wanted to go out and enjoy the world. Also, my parents are divorced so I could not go see my mom or step-dad. My place of employment would not let me return until I tested negative so they kept testing me and I just kept testing positive. I missed my mom's wedding dress shopping along with many other things. I feel like The biggest frustration for me personally about the pandemic is that my mental health has gotten way worse. I feel so much more sad and anxious. Now that we are slowly opening back up I have started having panic attacks and shaking when I am out in public. If I go to a restaurant I have to sit with my back to a wall or I freak out. I believe that the pandemic caused this because I am no longer used to social interactions. It is so infuriating because I just want to feel normal again. Another thing that was hard for me during the pandemic was that I ran cross country. This was very difficult for me originally because I never have been a runner. So being able to breathe was already hard. Then when covid hit we had to wear face masks during our meets. This meant we had to run just over three miles while wearing a facemask. I believe that this made me a better runner but it was very hard to get used to. I also saw other people get really sick because of the mask mandate. People who I knew as amazing runners would throw up after running because the mask made it that much more difficult to run with. Finally, one last thing that I thought was important to mention about how the pandemic has me realize how important an income is. I saw so many people struggle because they did not have an income. My dad and I worked for healthcare companies so we were always able to work during the pandemic because we were needed. I saw people not be able to buy groceries and such. It made me so much more generous. I gave people money for groceries along with my dad. It made me realize how lucky I was to have a job. Not only to have a job but to be making extra because I was considered an essential worker.