Holding Wuhan In Our Hearts
By Michelle Klets
The health crisis going on in the world today has bred a lot of panic. It started months ago when I just only began seeing posts on Facebook and in the news about a virus going crazy in Wuhan, China. Everyone kept saying it was going to be ok and that it was just like the flu if not a lot less severe. I remember so clearly panicking and telling my parents and close family and friends to stock up on essentials just in case a lockdown happened. Everyone kept telling me to calm down and breathe and not worry so much. I feel like my panic about the corona virus situation occurred so many weeks prior to everyone else's so when it finally hit the USA I almost felt like I was mentally and physically prepared and at ease unlike everyone else in the world.
Technology such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and all the hundreds of news agencies that exist played a huge role in the coronavirus pandemic. Articles were posted by the minute and I remember actually avoiding going on my phone, for the first time in my life, because I really wanted to stop seeing these crazy and somewhat misinforming and contradicting articles about coronavirus. On TikTok I found videos of people in Wuhan, China who would show what their life had turned into and quite honestly it scared me so much. I would drive in San Luis Obispo, which was totally fine at the time, and think to myself about all the people in Wuhan who had lost their lives both to death, but also to a national health crisis. I imagined how there were so many people in so many different phases of life, isolated in a city, left to live through a severely infectious disease on their own. Today I find myself in a similar situation to those in Wuhan, China but genuinely count my blessings everyday. I can still go to the store without needing government permission. I can still pursue my education. And most importantly thanks to technology I can stay connected to those that I love and miss.
Sheltering in place for the last 3 weeks has been an interesting experience. I have tried not to judge it too much and to simply embrace the experience that we are all subject to at this time. I have found that having more time to think and stay put in one place has allowed me to process a lot of things more deeply. My boyfriend and I got a puppy during this time and it has kept us extremely busy. Of Course there are downfalls to this time, but honestly I am so grateful that technology has allowed much of our lives to go on unchanged. I am a competitive ballroom dancer and was actually in Utah about 3 weeks ago for my national championship. The night before I competed at an event I had been preparing months for they announced that it would be cancelled. My dance partner and I had flown out to Utah, had costumes made, etc and in the moment it was one of the hardest things to hear. I think it was one of the hardest moments for me to process through this whole situation because in the moment I felt like a passion of mine was being shut down, but Zoom has actually allowed for online dance classes to be taught which I never imagined would occur. This pandemic has brought so many communities together and showed us all how resilient we can be to ever-evolving world situations.