I was a freshman at Lakeside High School in Nine Mile Falls when COVID forced everyone into lockdown. I remember so vividly being told to go home by my head track coach as we were preparing for the first meet of the season, and questioning whether I would actually be able to race at any meets at all (the season ended up being canceled entirely). For the next six months, I spent more time reading books with my cat on my lap than interacting with real humans.
School eventually started back up in a hybrid format, where we went into school on some days, and our teachers taught the other days through Zoom, but it wasn’t the same. I struggled to pay attention and felt lost. In the classroom, we all wore masks, and no one really talked to each other. When sports started back up, we also wore masks. I remember racing against Freeman and Deer Park High schools at our home cross-country course, and we all complained at the starting line about how hard it is to run with masks on.
By my junior year, my high school returned to a normal schedule, but I opted to do Running Start through Spokane Falls Community College. It felt like a smart decision at the time because outbreaks were beginning to pop up again, but in hindsight, it made me more isolated from my high school peers.
Looking back at the pandemic, COVID helped me understand the negative reality of isolating yourself from human interactions. I’ve always considered myself an introvert, but because I became a hermit during the lockdown and spent more time with book characters than my real life friends, I almost forgot how to have normal conversations. Today, I’ve become very appreciative of the friendships that I’ve gained, especially now that I’m a junior at Whitworth University, and I value the conversations that I have with people every day.
