This COVID-19 pandemic has impacted a lot of people, from students to families alike. My COVID-19 impact is not only about my senior year of college last year but also to the present time whereby I’ve been out of college for a year. My name is Jay, I am 24 years old, and I work as a teacher assistant in America. I am here to tell my story to help some people understand the mental side of a young adult.

COVID-19 became a big thing in March of 2020, which was during my student teaching year. Student teaching was halted because of the college’s decisions about how to continue the teaching program. I was in my last semester and the biggest issue for me was how was I going to graduate because two things had happened. Graduation was canceled and the program didn’t know how to let us proceed since the student teaching part was halted. I spiraled into having severe anxiety and depression from the unknown. It was also a combination of the stress of student teaching.

Now I am in the present and COVID-19 has limited many things I wish to do to help myself overcome this mental state. Yes, I got my dream job, but I still stay inside majority of the time. From the experience, I learned COVID-19 can be a serious thing and mental health is very likely going to get worse. What I want to say to everyone is please take care of yourself no matter what happens to you during this public health crisis.