The coronavirus pandemic has affected millions of people across the globe, including college students. Schools and colleges have shifted classes online for the rest of the semester, graduation and other school activities have been cancelled and students’ academic plans have been affected. Many Tallahassee Community College students returned home, some students stayed in town, but all of them are doing their best to fulfill their academic requirements to finish out the semester despite the societal upheaval.
By Sophia Ziemer | Talon Editor
When I first heard about Coronavirus it was via a tweet about how China was suffering with a new pandemic that their government was struggling to contain.
I called my older brother, a biology major, knowing he’d be able to explain it to me in a simpler way. He basically told me to read up on SARS, because scientists were predicting that COVID-19 would become “the next SARS.”
Little did we know that this was going to be much much worse than what anyone has experienced in the past, as far as death rates, and economic and social repercussions.
On Thursday before Spring Break, TCC announced classes would be moved online for the rest of the semester; I had to start planning for the future.
I spoke to my family members, who live in Miami, and told them that I had to make the tough decision of leaving them after Spring Break to return to Tallahassee in order to focus on school without distractions, and to keep them safe from me, a potential virus carrier.
My girlfriend told her family the same, and we have been staying together in my apartment ever since. Having company is the best thing for both of our sanities. Animal Crossing, the video game, has become an everyday staple for us, and I would not want to spend my time with anyone else but her.
Even though we have each other, I couldn’t help but feel as if something was missing.
I grew up with a pet at home. One of my roommates, who decided to move back with her parents, also has a kitty that my roommates and I have bonded with, but he’s in Tampa with her.
Then it clicked.
I’m truly missing the company of a furry friend. This wasn’t the first time I thought about adopting, and I started looking at cats to adopt from the Humane Society.
I came across a beautiful one-year-old medium-haired Tuxedo cat named Remii, who was actually a resident of the Tally Cat Cafe before the pandemic. With help from my psychologist, I’m now in the process of making her mine.
My emotional support animal papers are currently being approved by my apartment, and I am extremely excited to have a new little friend for the next 15-plus years of my life.
The entire process has been stressful but I know the end result is going to bring me incomparable happiness in the end. If there was no pandemic going on right now, I would never have made this life-changing decision.
The phrase “there’s a rainbow after every storm” couldn’t be more true, and in my case, I’ve gotten a glimpse of the rainbow during the storm.
How has this global pandemic affected your life as a TCC student / faculty member / staff member? We want to hear from you. Please send us your story: https://forms.gle/ea4z2LjBQho8FadW7
