Blog 3: The Environment and Me

One of the biggest environmental issues that has directly impacted my life, and I'd assume that many of my peers can relate, would have to be the global pandemic that was covid-19. I say was, but however slow covid is still very apparent. For more than almost 2, for me, the normalty of a computer screen has been instilled in my head as a direct correlation to learning. While it is very obvious that my generation is, and has always been technologically dependent covid made that dependency depend. While I have the privilege to say I didn't directly lose anyone close to me to the virus I, and many others, have been affected mentally and emotionally.  Losing the only face-to-face interactions I looked forward to every school day caused me to start to develop a sort of social handicap, where it's difficult for me to engage with others around me naturally. My social battery became stunted. Many in my generation of adolescence have lost the ability to socialize, gaining social anxiety and other social handicaps along with Covid. While losing engagement with the world around me I also lost a lot of experiences that go into being a student. Some might even go on to say I missed the pivotal moments in a student's life. Things such as senior year, prom, and even graduation were things I will never get to experience. As for my higher education, 70% of my college experiences have also been online; the entirety of freshmen year, convocation, etc.  In no way are these lack of experiences not trivial nor do they outweigh the toll Coronavirus has taken on the world and their loved ones, but this particular environmental issue has caused me to shift as a person. My entire way of thinking and living has changed. Trauma from coughs or a cold that knocks out my sense of smell for a couple days will always scare me a little, sending a response to my head telling me 6ft apart. The covid-19 pandemic will always be a part of who I grew to be socially and economically.