Storyteller: Adam Jean
Tucker Vandyke is an 18-year-old freshman at Michigan Technological University this year. He lived in Sanford, Mi before moving up to Houghton. This year has been quite chaotic from him due to the Corona Virus seconded by the catastrophic flooding Sandford suffered in May.
Tucker says that he first heard of the Corona Virus on the news back in mid-February. Tucker was affected by the pandemic because he was stuck at home due to Michigan’s lockdown. This was no problem for Tucker because he just transitioned from hanging out with people to playing more video games. One distinct memory of Tucker has of the pandemic is how his family washed their groceries to prevent the virus from getting carried into their house via their items.
Personally, Tucker feels that he has gained a lot of online friends. He also developed a very good appreciation for how good he had it before the pandemic. On the contrary, he lost a lot from COVID-19. Tucker says that’s he lost a lot of in person social skills, and the ability to talk about stuff that he doesn’t know how other people are handling without making them uncomfortable.
One sensory detail that Tucker has of the pandemic is when he would walk out of his house without a mask on, he feels like he’s forgetting something because he couldn’t leave his dorm without a mask. Tucker feels that mask wearing is a habit that will be hard to forget once this is all over. One funny memory Tucker has of the pandemic was when a lady who was wearing her mask around her chin in the grocery store started lecturing Tucker about social distancing in the checkout line because he stood a little too close.
Overall, Tucker feels he learned that it’s a lot easier than he thought it’d be for people to give up certain freedoms in order to feel safe. Tucker says that he expected more push back to things continually getting shut down.
MIPandemicStory 