COVID-19 From a 17-Year-Old’s POV
By Jack Shortridge
Have you ever just gone to bed and hoped that things would be better in the morning? Well for me I’ve been doing that for about four months now to no avail. I have just been pondering the idea of repossessing a somewhat normal life, but with the way our country is heading I do not know if I will become normal again until I go to college in 2021.
Since I started high school two years ago, I was always told that my junior year would be the most challenging. With this pandemic occurring during my junior year, I must still agree with that statement. Although I did not have a traditional junior year, I was still challenged, but in different aspects of my life. For the first few months of the pandemic, when I was still getting used to social distancing and wearing a mask, it was just my mom and me. She’s at high risk for COVID. At that time I had to manage my school work and take over all of our errand running. At first I was very uncomfortable going into stores alone and shopping for all the items that we needed while some of the other customers did not fully grasp the severity of the virus. Once cases began to spike more throughout the weeks, I felt more and more uncomfortable running errands because I thought that I had the possibility to bring the virus home with me and spread it. Even to this day with cases still rising in the US, I still feel uncomfortable just going into Safeway because of the possibility of just one person not following the mask order. This experience of fast-tracking adulthood has changed me and how I interact with others.
After a few more months of transitioning to virtual studies, helping with the shopping, and taking care of my mom, I went to bed once again hoping that it would be better in the morning. But no. 2020 hit like a bus again with the tragic killing of George Floyd.
Image /Star Tribune.
His horrific murder brought light to the many issues in this country relating to equality for all. Issues that were not being addressed. Many people have many varied opinions on these issues, which have caused on-going division and protests. I am going to miss the annual Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl this year. It’s not being hosted in September because of COVID-19 concerns. We as a community could come together and learn more about these issues from local and regional authors and artists, especially writers of color, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. From the past two Nevada Humanities Literary Crawls that I have attended, I have learned so much more about our Nevada-based writers, poets, and artists. I also have grasped more complex issues such as racial injustices that we are facing in our society from Kiese Laymon’s powerful and relevant book, Heavy: An American Memoir.
Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy and Keynote Speaker at 2019 Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl. Image/Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl credit: Jesse Ziegler.
Whether on this new Humanities Heart to Heart platform or in person at next year’s Literary Crawl, people of all ages, including those of us in high school, need to join in this important conversation about equality for all. I’m looking forward to a time when we can all interact safely and bring all voices into these necessary conversations. Change is possible and my generation is up for the conversation even during the age of COVID.
Photos/Jonathan Herre
Jack Shortridge is a senior at Truckee High School in Truckee, California. He has volunteered at the Nevada Humanities Literary Crawl since 2018. He is looking forward to attending college (COVID-free) in southern California in the fall of 2021.
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