Storyteller: Sydney Isbell
Work was always Lexi’s biggest motivation so when that was taken away from her, she felt as though she lost control of her life. She needed to be working to feel like she was making a difference in the world and benefiting herself and others.
At the beginning of the pandemic, she was working a full-time job at Planet Fitness and making good money doing so. Because of the shutdown she was laid off for many months. This caused her to fall into a deep financial struggle between her and her boyfriend, which then caused a mental struggle of her own. Thankfully she was able to gain back a part-time job through Planet Fitness and a part-time job with a cleaning company. She is still working to gain back her previous position at Planet Fitness but with not being in the same position before shutdown she must work extra hard at both jobs to make ends meet. Both her and her boyfriend are not nearly where they were before the shutdown financially but it’s something, they are working on together to fix.
She believes she didn’t gain much from COVID-19 because she feels this pandemic took everything away from her. If she were to choose something she did gain, it would be learning how to deal with unemployment which she thought she would never have to do and hopes she never has too again. A bigger thing would be her and her boyfriend gaining communication skills when they had to figure out how their next bills were going to get paid. Their relationship has grown so much due to those hardships and is continuing to blossom.
The things she lost is a much bigger list though. She lost a stable full-time job with benefits, and quality time with family members who were already not doing very well health-wise. Alexis is a family-oriented person, so not being able to visit her family whenever she wants is hard on her. That also took a toll on her mental health. She has been doing daily goals to keep her distracted and busy to make sure she stays focused on the things making her happy in the moment.
Alexis’ biggest take away from this pandemic is to be more resourceful, especially when it comes to money. She will forever be thankful for her gains and losses that were caused from this detrimental pandemic.
MIPandemicStory 