Emma Armstrong
School, Pedagogy and Social Justice (EDU 301)
COVID-19 Paper
11:10-12:30 PM
Five weeks into quarantine, I am missing school and my team more than ever. The effects
of COVID-19 have me and my family confined to our house, and my mother waiting for her test
results. I am from Woodbury, New York, which is about an hour north of the city. Currently my
county has over 8100 cases, and is just shy of 300 deaths. I have spent my time doing work,
painting furniture, running and hiking with my girlfriend and my family. As we keep going into
this pandemic I try to remember that there are people out there who have it much worse than I
do. My parents, who are both teachers, have turned our dining room into a classroom, complete
with whiteboards, inspirational sayings and papers strewn everywhere. My dogs are sure loving
all of us being home as they sit in their bed under the dining room table while we do our work.
As this semester started, what was most prominent in my mind was my field placement. I
was excited to finally get some education classes in, but also terrified of my first day in a
classroom. I was ready to dive into my classes and learn what it is like to be a real teacher. Once
I got over my first day nerves, my placement was so much fun. The students were tough, but
over the first few weeks I was able to win them over. One of them even told me “Miss, I will
teach you Swahili”, that was probably my favorite moment. I also loved my classes, loved how
they taught me to think and opened my eyes to issues I hadn’t even considered. Another big part
of my life was my team. I was using this semester to assert myself as a leader, as I planned on
running for next year’s President. We were set to have five tournaments, one of them in Rhode
Island and another one would be against my cousin’s team, who I was excited to play against.
When Governor Cuomo announced that all SUNY schools were to be closed I was upset, I
wanted to stay. I wanted to have my student teach me Swahili and I wanted to play for my team
but now I see that we needed to go home. Hopefully we got it in time to come back in the fall.
Once I got home, I had learned that my family in Brooklyn had caught COVID-19, my
uncle had breathing problems and chest pains. They are doing okay now, although my uncle still
has shortness of breath. As we got into the thick of quarantine I realized that I had to start
running, and get the best out of being stuck at home. I find a lot of peace when I run and that has
helped with my boredom. For a few weeks that was all I did, wake up, run, do some work, eat,
go to sleep. I am still on that schedule more or less. It was a few days ago where my mom lost
her sense of smell, and her arms and legs were aching. After emailing her doctor she was told
that she most likely has it, and that she needs to get a test done, which is pretty much where we
are now. I am very thankful that I do not know anyone who has passed, and I know how lucky I
am to have a home to go back to with home cooked meals and a healthy family.
COVID-19 has affected me, it has affected everyone on this planet. I guess all we can do
is wait it out, and while that is so boring it is so imperative. Less than a mile from my house is a
community with 25 thousand people living within roughly 200 acres. It has become a hotspot for
COVID-19, which has grown so out of control that the legislators of my county have requested a
containment order. This makes going out near me so much scarier because these people are
blatantly disobeying the rules of quarantine. My father has resorted to going 30 minutes north of
us to buy groceries. It is things like this that have affected me, and while there are so many worse
things that can be happening that’s what my life has been like during the COVID-19 pandemic.