College During COVID-19 Submission

“During this past spring semester, I was a criminal justice major working part time while going to school. I remember in my one CJ class we would talk about COVID-19 briefly, but it was quickly forgotten about.

Three of my professors had a gut feeling that this was going to happen, so they tried to keep us in the loop. It did not hit me until spring break came along and they told us that we cannot come back. I did not take it seriously until I realized that my boyfriend and many of my friends lost their jobs or internships. I was “blessed” that I got to keep working during the pandemic.

I honestly want to say that the first three months were the worst of my life. I was not only going to school but I was working at three different stores due to under-staffing within the whole company. I work at Sheetz and the customers have not been the most friendly when it comes to mask wearing. I got screamed at for telling them to wear a mask and then other customers complaining that people are not wearing masks. I was glad that I got extra pay and more benefits. I was terrified that I was going to contact the virus and give it to my grandma. She means so much to me and it would have killed me knowing that I was the reason she got sick.

I was unable to quit work so I just had to keep sanitizing and staying clean.”