The Good things I got from COVID-19 and How I came back to Religion
Item
PGV_ID
300241
Title
The Good things I got from COVID-19 and How I came back to Religion
Media file format such as pdf, mp3, mp4, docx
jpe
Author (individual or group)
Julia Forbes
Location
Nantucket, MA
02554
Religious movement
Catholic
Roman Catholic
Description or narrative
When coronavirus originally hit, it was something so far from impacting me individually that I thought it was nothing. In January there were rumors of international students who came back to school and may have been infected, but this still didn’t scare me. I didn’t think it was real. The week we got sent home from school, I will never forget. Everything happening so suddenly. My mom visited the weekend before and left on Sunday. By that Wednesday I was in the car with two of my friends and we got an email from the president of Miami University telling us we had to leave. At this point I was still living in the dorms which meant I would literally be kicked off campus. I quickly got a rush of many emotions. I was excited, nervous, stressed, scared, and sad. I was excited to go home and see my family and friends from high school. I liked the idea of school going online because it allowed my upcoming midterm exams to be postponed. I was stressed about finding a flight home that wasn’t absurdly experience. I was scared of the unknown and if we were actually going to come back or if I had to pack up my dorm room, find a storage unit, and fly home with just one suitcase.
I managed to get all of my stuff together and out of my dorms for a flight home on Saturday. Once I got home, I was so thankful to be with my family because the six of us are never all together. My dad and I got in an amazing routine of coffee at 7 am while getting our work done. We would go running and make lunch. I would then go to the grocery store with my mom and help her with dinner. After dinner we would walk in the golf course around my house while my brothers all got to play. We would then watch documentaries at night.
I finally had time to sit back and take care of myself. After being at home from March until June I finally decided to get a job. I wanted to do something different and make the most out of what would be a boring summer. I packed up a bag and headed to Nantucket, Massachusetts. A small island I was not very familiar with, but I went with some girls from my high school in the year below me. We all got a job at a grocery store and shared a house together. Again, I got a rush of emotions when deciding to take this chance and live with girls I only knew of and some I had never met in my life. The first week was a mix of really fun times but also some bad ones. I found myself upset, always cleaning and never getting the recognition I thought deserved. I eventually broke down. I shared my feelings with my housemates and realized it was totally okay to feel the way I did. I began to accept the fact that living with so many people is not always perfect. Once I accepted this and felt more than comfortable talking with my housemates’ things started looking up again. I began to live each day at a time and truly make the most of it. I did what I wanted and when I wanted to. I went to work, I worked out, and I went to the beach nearly every day. These things made me happy.
When the summer quickly came to an end, I looked back and am so beyond thankful for everything it brought me. Not only did I have so much fun, but I managed to do it while holding a job which required me to work 40 hours a week, lived on my own, and made incredible friends. The relationships I made this summer are ones I will never forget. I grew as a person. I haven’t felt the genuine happiness that I found in Nantucket every in my life but especially since going to college. I truly thought that I wasn’t ever going to be happy after freshman year really hit hard for me. I took a chance and it was the best thing I could have done. I encourage everyone to take these chances when they come, go somewhere new, live on your own and do things that make you happy. This pandemic allowed me to see why people are religious and in what ways it can help you get through the toughest times but also be there when times are great. In the simplest times, religion is there, all you have to do is take a step back and truly think of the people that you have with you and the lessons they teach you.
I managed to get all of my stuff together and out of my dorms for a flight home on Saturday. Once I got home, I was so thankful to be with my family because the six of us are never all together. My dad and I got in an amazing routine of coffee at 7 am while getting our work done. We would go running and make lunch. I would then go to the grocery store with my mom and help her with dinner. After dinner we would walk in the golf course around my house while my brothers all got to play. We would then watch documentaries at night.
I finally had time to sit back and take care of myself. After being at home from March until June I finally decided to get a job. I wanted to do something different and make the most out of what would be a boring summer. I packed up a bag and headed to Nantucket, Massachusetts. A small island I was not very familiar with, but I went with some girls from my high school in the year below me. We all got a job at a grocery store and shared a house together. Again, I got a rush of emotions when deciding to take this chance and live with girls I only knew of and some I had never met in my life. The first week was a mix of really fun times but also some bad ones. I found myself upset, always cleaning and never getting the recognition I thought deserved. I eventually broke down. I shared my feelings with my housemates and realized it was totally okay to feel the way I did. I began to accept the fact that living with so many people is not always perfect. Once I accepted this and felt more than comfortable talking with my housemates’ things started looking up again. I began to live each day at a time and truly make the most of it. I did what I wanted and when I wanted to. I went to work, I worked out, and I went to the beach nearly every day. These things made me happy.
When the summer quickly came to an end, I looked back and am so beyond thankful for everything it brought me. Not only did I have so much fun, but I managed to do it while holding a job which required me to work 40 hours a week, lived on my own, and made incredible friends. The relationships I made this summer are ones I will never forget. I grew as a person. I haven’t felt the genuine happiness that I found in Nantucket every in my life but especially since going to college. I truly thought that I wasn’t ever going to be happy after freshman year really hit hard for me. I took a chance and it was the best thing I could have done. I encourage everyone to take these chances when they come, go somewhere new, live on your own and do things that make you happy. This pandemic allowed me to see why people are religious and in what ways it can help you get through the toughest times but also be there when times are great. In the simplest times, religion is there, all you have to do is take a step back and truly think of the people that you have with you and the lessons they teach you.
Contributor
forbesjk
Genre
Personal story, social media or blog post, unpublished material, etc.
Date
September 15, 2020
This item was submitted on September 15, 2020 by Julia Forbes using the form “Help gather religious responses to the pandemic” on the site “Preaching Goes Viral”: https://pandemicreligion.org/s/preaching-goes-viral
Click here to view the collected data.