Storyteller:Antonia Levario
Kaylee is a 18 year old living her teenage years through the pandemic. Kaylee had plans to go to the casino for her birthday and finally gamble as a legal adult but that was put to a halt because of the pandemic. Kaylee says she was saddened that she couldn’t see her friends from high school one last time and have a traditional graduation ceramony. Kaylee first heard of COVID-19 during school and she wasn’t concerned because Kaylee thought it would go away three weeks.
Unfortunately, the pandemic has lasted way longer than three weeks so Kaylee had to find things to keep her motivated. Kaylee listened to albums, started painting more and watched a lot of Netflix. Kaylee said this actually was a good time for her because she got to rediscover what she really liked doing and it was a nice cool off time before returning to school in the fall.
Kaylee did hold a job during the Covid pandemic and mentioned although she took her precautions she did feel unsafe at the time due to people not complying with the mask mandiate. Kaylee said the one thing she gained from Covid is how much misinformation can spread at one time. It also brought a certain light to her eyes regarding the world’s other problems.
Kaylee has also lost her senior year of high school to the virus and her sports season she was looking forward to playing. Kaylee says her mental health has changed during the pandemic. Not only from missing the last memories of high school she became more pressured by social media. Kaylee said that she felt more pressured to look a certain way due to social media sites like Instagram and Tik Tok.
One thing the pandemic did teach Kaylee is you need to be more aware and careful about who you are around. Times like are scary and you don’t want to put yourself or anyone at risk.
MIPandemicStory 