Storyteller: Garette Minzey
Alli answered my facetime call in the kitchen of her new apartment casually prepping dinner with her roommate, their five animals pixilated in the background. She is a newer friend of mine, one that I worked a menial café job with back in the summer of 2019. It is safe to say that much has changed since then.
Alli being a public health major at University of Michigan gave her quick access to information surrounding COVID-19, first hearing about it in early February. It seemed that even that was not soon enough though, as just a month later she was laid off from her cafe job and avoiding grocery stores, friends, and any public outings as the pandemic began to surge around her. Although she has since found a new job, unemployment helped her survive quite a few lonely quarantine months. “Yeah, I definitely didn’t leave my house much at all after the beginning of March. I got so lonely!” (Alli).
Alli feels she has lost relationships and a big part of the college experience due to the pandemic. However, she made sure to add on that none of that is as important as people’s health and lives right now. To her, it was harder in the beginning than it is now. Although there has been a lot to be devastated by, Alli has gained more respect for others, especially those working, and believes she has even more career options in the public health field now, “No one wants to work in public health after all!”, (Alli).
MIPandemicStory 