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

The coronavirus affected my life because I felt alone and isolated from my family and friends. <strong> I am a certified nurses aid/ nursing student at a hospital near Ann Arbor, Michigan so I had to isolate myself from my 2 year old son and fiancé for months. </strong> I was unable to have contact with my family or friends which caused some <strong> depression and anxiety </strong> because I wanted to protect them from this virus that no one had enough information about at the beginning. At the hospital I had been stressed and felt like we were <strong> losing a battle between running out of supplies, depriving our patients of familiarity/comfort, and being worn down from working long hours to cover short staffed shifts. </strong> Being a student Nurse during the pandemic is an imaginable task not being able to see your peers or being able have personal relationships with each other. I have felt <strong> disconnected and unmotivated to learn from a screen </strong> without being able to bounce ideas off of other classmates. I had reach a point in my second semester where all I was able to is sit at my computer and sob out of frustration/devastation because I had worked immensely hard to study and <strong> felt I was learning nothing. </strong> I know i was not alone after discussing it with other student but <strong> the fear of failure </strong> was terrifying and being isolated at your own house not having any interaction was lonely and depressing. Currently, I would say the situation is better I have not been isolated from my family since 2020 but there are still hardships especially at my place of employment. At the start of the pandemic I witnessed many <strong> families torn apart </strong> mostly the elderly who were admitted from care homes. <strong> It broke my spirit to know they were alone without there families to see them </strong> or that they have given up the will to fight in general. I think hospitals should have allowed loved ones say their goodbyes. <strong> I believe as a society we need to improve our communication and compassion for each other </strong> by calling or facetiming friends and family to implement some socialization to ensure mental well-being.