Spring break 2020 started off as a new and exciting adventure for me and my friends. We road tripped to Tennessee, staying just outside of Nashville. The first night was exactly what you would expect from college kids away from home, out on the town drinking our way through as many downtown Nashville bars and restaurants as we could.

Day two was a lot more of the same as we explored the city, but something on social media alerted us that things were changing. The coronavirus had arrived in the United States, and cases were mounting.

At the time it seemed a bit crazy, but not life changing. We assumed it would disappear like most other diseases, lasting for a couple weeks.

The next day things got serious.

We were at the Jack Daniels distillery when we learned some universities in Ohio were shutting down.  Naively, we were even hoping that Cleveland State followed suit to lengthen spring break. And, later that day we got our wish in an email that Cleveland state would be closed until further notice.

Suddenly, we weren’t sure how to feel.  A longer spring break was great, but this sounded more ominous.  That night as we sat down for dinner the city was much less lively even though it was a Friday night.  Our dinner was right next to the site of the SEC basketball tournament that was cancelled in the middle of our meal. Fans for the teams wandered around aimlessly, not knowing what to do

My life changed entirely in 2020, and I had no idea this was the spark of it all. When we got home, I found no job, no school. I started to panic. Am I going to get sick? What if my parents get it, how will I pay my bills, what’s going to happen with school? The stress and anxiety of the pandemic began to kick in.

But, like most things we encounter, it eventually almost felt normal. Now I don’t think twice about carrying hand sanitizer and masks with me. I hardly even remember what it was like to drive to class rather than just roll out of bed and log onto a computer. What started as the end of the world in March last year, has just become your average day in March of 2021.