At the beginning of March, our whole lives changed. We went from enjoying our time with our friends and families on spring break and slightly dreading going back to finish the rest of the semester to not going back at all. Some of us had to pack up our dorms and apartments and go home to the comfort of our families. Some of us lost our jobs. Some of us had to find somewhere to live and someone to be around. At the beginning of March, COVID-19 brought us unexpected challenges and a new “normal.”
I know the tug of the coronavirus slowly taking aspects of our life away from us doesn’t feel good. I know that it is frustrating to not be able to see our friends, classmates, professors, grandparents or more. I know that being secluded to our homes, bored and stuck with the same people for this past month has not been how we envisioned spending these pretty spring days. I know how uncertain our health, summer, next semester and life as we know it feels right now. We are going to grieve these losses caused by the coronavirus (of both people and aspects of our life), but we are all going through this together. We are all experiencing the five stages of COVID-19, more commonly known as the five stages of grief.
- Denial
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The first stage is denial, when everyone refused to believe that COVID-19 would come to our country, our state, our city or our home. This stage showed itself in many forms: college students still going on their spring break trips and posting on social media with funny captions about coronavirus (I’m guilty of this — I’m sorry); businesses still trying to remain open to the public; schools taking their time to close, and people continuing to hang out with others outside of their households. Many of us going through this stage believed that it wouldn’t happen to us; therefore, we continued to pretend like nothing had changed. Despite the precautions our country, state and cities are taking, there are still some people who are hanging out with their friends in large groups. Fear has made people panic in different ways — some ways more dangerous than others. Please, be responsible, and let’s move on to the next stage.
- Anger
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The second stage is anger, when we start to get very frustrated and believe that everything that’s happening because of COVID-19 just isn’t fair. This occurs because we feel unsettled, and we show our anger by blaming this pandemic on others, getting mad at our parents for not letting us go places or getting mad at others for continuing to go to public places. This is a very frustrating and weird situation, and it is normal to feel angry about it. However, we can’t let this stage control how we are going to spend this time.
- Bargaining
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The third stage is bargaining, which I believe is one that many people struggle with moving past. Bargaining shows itself in ways that allow for us to let a little bit of “normal” into our current quarantine lives: saying we will only hang out with people outside our household once a week, continuing to order at restaurants every now and then, believing that this will end soon, and (THE BIG ONE) believing the notion that “this won’t affect us younger people, so why should we quarantine?” While there are many ways that people can try to work around staying in their homes, this will not benefit us in the long run.
- Sadness
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The fourth stage is sadness, when we really start to realize and accept the seriousness of the COVID-19 pandemic. I know that being quarantined and not being able to go to class, see my friends and family or have sorority events has got me down. Just being stuck in my house has been very overwhelming over this past month. It is easy to get caught up in everything that we can’t do right now, and it is OK for us to feel sad and miss our friends. We need to feel this sadness and be honest with ourselves because it allows us to move on to our final stage.
- Acceptance
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The last stage is acceptance, which is the most important step in beginning to take advantage of our current situation. This is when we begin to use our extra time doing activities we haven’t done in a while — things we enjoy or that are good for us. Some activities I’ve been doing to make the most out of my extra time are exercising daily, learning how to cook, reorganizing my room, doing crafts and watching a lot of TikTok. These are things I usually don’t have a lot of time for because of all the pressures and stress of normal life, but this new “normal” is allowing me to find new and fun ways to enjoy my time at home. However, the best part about this acceptance is that we know that when this is all over, we will appreciate all of the little things we didn’t before. I can’t wait to be able to see my friends and family every day again, to be able to go to the gym, sit down and eat in a restaurant, sit in class and to see people healthy and out of their homes again.
While we have all experienced, or are experiencing, these five stages, let’s all be aware of the guidelines set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Be mindful of those around you and take precautions. Send your love and appreciation to all the essential workers out there — and stay safe!