The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the lives of every U.S citizen indefinitely. Families, students, and workers have had their personal, academic, and professional lives flipped upside down.
Since the start of the COVID crisis, many people have been terrified to leave their homes in fear of contracting the deadly virus, which led to mass isolation throughout the country. Isolation has caused people to develop mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. People are meant to be social and interact with one another daily, interpersonal communication is a big part of being human.
The pandemic has caused a record-breaking drop in employment throughout the country and has devastated the economy. According to the CRS report,“In April 2020, the unemployment rate reached 14.8%—the highest rate observed since data collection began in 1948.”
Unemployment caused by COVID has been a major problem since the start of COVID in December of 2019. The Pew Research Center has stated that “by February 2021, 4.1 million Americans were among the long-term unemployed, without work since at least August, making up 2.6% of the workforce overall.”
As of December 2021, there have been about seven hundred thousand deaths in America as a result of COVID-19. COVID symptoms are debilitating and linger. People of all ages such as children, teens and young adults can contract the virus, not just middle aged and older adults. According to aHopkins Bloomberg-Public Health article,“More than 5 million children and teens have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. While about 30% of adult survivors report long-term lingering symptoms.”
The COVID pandemic has also had a substantial impact on education. Imagine being a college student and going to class in this country after the start of the pandemic, dealing with financial instability and crippling health problems. It is not the easiest situation to be in while trying to succeed in school and carry on like before.
Many students have unfortunately had no choice but to drop out of school. For instance, according to theAlbuquerque Journal, “Enrollment at Santa Fe Community College declined 28% in one year, dropping from 5,337 students last year to 3,841 this semester.” TheTampa Bay Business Journal said, “The total student enrolled in Tampa Bay Community College has dropped over 15 percent.”
The COVID pandemic has overall affected the academic success of many college students. University of Oregon student Ryley Stone said, “The COVID pandemic has changed everything for me. I used to have a set schedule of in person classes, and they all were switched to online classes. That was weird for me because I am not used to online webcam classes, I feel like I can retain much more information from in-person lectures. I never left the house and missed going out with friends and just doing anything.”
DMACC student Sary Son said, “I got COVID, and it felt like the worst virus I’ve ever had, I could barely function in class and had to quit my part time job. One minute, I had complete control of my life and then I had none. I luckily was able to continue my classes, but it was such a struggle even walking to class at times I was in so much pain.”
COVID has affected all of us in some way, either financially, physically, emotionally or all the above. No matter what struggles you are currently going through caused by COVID-19 know you are not alone, we are all in this together.
Here is a list below of local resources that can help with COVID recovery, counseling, financial assistance, and steps and protocols DMACC students can follow if they have COVID symptoms or test positive for COVID.
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