About Me!
First of all, I’ll start by sharing my name. I am Hillary Johnson. I‘m a freshman at the University of Kentucky. Navigating this pandemic as new adult is kind of scary. I am taking charge of the choices I make for myself to ensure the safety of myself and others. Now, I don’t have to follow the rules of my parents regarding the pandemic and anything else. But, to me, it is still important to take precautions because this virus is a serious deal. I will still say though, in my experience the effects of the virus have been minute regarding the health of me and my family.
We took pretty severe precaution near the beginning of the national quarantine, but loosened up a bit around early June. My family became exhausted of our routine and staying inside. We decided to take a risk and go to Topsail Island North Carolina for a weeks getaway at the beach. It seemed necessary. We searched for so long to find somewhere that wasn’t going to be crowded and somewhere that would have beach access from a beach house so that we wouldn’t have to be around so many people at a hotel. In my family, my anxiety about the pandemic was probably the worst. After going to the beach and having slight contact with others, stepping out of the bubble of my home and neighborhood walking trails, and coming home with no virus in my family or the friend who came with me, my anxieties started to subsided. I thought, the virus is serious, but will basic health precautions such as hand washing including an extent of social distancing and mask wearing do the trick? A little after I returned from the beach, I also started my lifeguard job back up when the neighborhood pools opened back up in Lexington, Kentucky (where I am from) in early July. There were certain safety measures taken, but they did not compare to the precautions I had been taking at home previously. There were a several people outside of my circle that I came in contact with without a mask, but still, I got tested before I moved in at UK and I was not positive for the virus.
To my family it was really important to stay safe during this time. We were hearing everywhere that the virus affects POC more negatively. As a biracial person, that worried me. I worried about myself, my brother, and my dad who is Black. I also still worried about my mom who is white because she does have underlying health conditions. Of course, then I worried about my extended family as well. Another thing that is also important to us is not living in fear and trusting in our faith. It was and still is hard to balance these two ideas. The pandemic has also affected my immediate and some extended family in ways not related to health. I would say my family is in the middle-low middle class economically. My dad’s barber shop business was closed for a long period of time and his hours at his other job were cut short. Thankfully my mom’s job allowed her to work completely from home, but it was really hard to lose half of our household income for at least a few months. We still were able to have things we needed, but things we wanted had to be thought about. Watching the news and everything did allow me to see that my family and I have it much better than many others during this time. No one in the family that I used to see frequently before all of this happened has had COVID or at least hasn’t become ill with it. I do know of a few friends that have it or have had it, but they have all powered through with mild symptoms. To say the least, I really can’t wait for this virus to stop having such a large impact in everyone’s lives, but right now it is still very important that we all do our part in protected ourselves and those around us.
