[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” custom_padding=”2px|0px|8px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Featured Image caption” _builder_version=”4.4.1″ text_font=”|600|||||||” text_font_size=”12px”]<\/p>\n
This is the view I’m getting used to: my fellow multimedia journalism students and our professors meeting virtually. The couch that was once an end-of-the-day comfort is now where I spend a majority of my time.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_margin=”10px|||” custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”4.4.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|” hover_enabled=”0″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”]<\/p>\n
COLUMBIA, S.C.<\/strong> \u2013 It took me some time to warm up to working in a college newsroom and seeing the same people every day.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It felt like elementary school for young adults, but I acclimated quickly. Soon, I felt at home walking into the <\/span>University of South Carolina journalism school with my morning coffee for my 9-5 p.m. shift in the Senior Semester capstone program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I put off decorating my desk, <\/span>unlike many of my coworkers who had done <\/span>so<\/span> early on in the semester. Maybe it was out of forgetfulness or laziness, but by some stroke of luck, I remembered to bring some important personal belongings in<\/span> on<\/span> March 6. I wanted my desk to look like home the way that it began to feel like home. That turned out to be my last day in the newsroom.<\/span><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t like talking about coronavirus when I left to go on spring break, but now it feels like <\/span>that is all anyone talks about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Today, one of my best friends is quarantined with his parents at his home in Delaware because they may have the disease. \u00a0I had a conversation with one of my best friends in Columbia and told him I couldn\u2019t see him because he may have been exposed to the coronavirus. The reality of the situation has set in and I regret not taking this seriously at first. But who knew this was going to happen?<\/span><\/p>\n I, along with many people I know, lost my job in the restaurant industry because the small deli I worked for couldn\u2019t handle the loss of revenue. Small businesses and big businesses alike seemed as unprepared as many were for something like this to happen.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the beginning of March it felt like the coronavirus could never catch me. At the time it seemed like I was too young and healthy to concern myself with this when the rest of life hadn\u2019t slowed down. As March drew on I realized that COVID-19 was very fast; must faster than I could run.<\/span><\/p>\n I drove home to Delaware to get a shoulder evaluation for surgery on March 9 before Delaware had any confirmed COVID-19 cases. On March 11, after I had left Delaware to return <\/span>to my college apartment, the first confirmed case in the state caused the University of Delaware to shut down. I was escaping the virus for now, but where was I supposed to go?<\/span><\/p>\n Shortly after, the NBA season was postponed and UofSC\u2019s spring break was extended. I knew life wasn\u2019t normal anymore. When I got back to Columbia there were no cases of COVID-19 in South Carolina, but it didn\u2019t feel that way. I was running faster than the virus for a little, but now I was sedentary and it was going to catch me the way it had caught so many.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The situation changed. It was no longer a question of where the virus was going to spread, but when and who it would spread to. Everything from school closures to widespread event cancellations felt unprecedented even when I asked people much older than myself. The drama has increased since I returned to Columbia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Genuinely, I hope that this is something that\u2019s remembered as something we all took too seriously. The statistic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that I can\u2019t get out of my head is that 70% of the United States population could catch the coronavirus if people aren\u2019t careful. I worry that it may already be too late.<\/span><\/p>\n The hardest part for me is having to wait it out. It\u2019s hard to sit idly by and simply hope that my loved ones are ok and that everyone ends up ok, but that\u2019s what we all have to do right now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The price of a couple of weeks or months of boredom and worry is worth the safety of people I care about and people I\u2019ve never met before.<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I used to love my couch at the end of the day in a busy college newsroom. 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