Jydell Hill

Professor Metenko

September 17, 2024

Description: In this assignment, I had to write a narrative. In my narrative I shared my experiences about how I was overweight, embarrassed,  ashamed of myself and how I overcame this.

 

                   Narrative Essay: The Pandemic

We never knew our lives would change after the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 13, 2020, we heard the most groundbreaking news ever. During that day, I was having the time of my life, joking with friends, sharing laughs, and talking to my favorite teachers. We moved from class to class, engaging in lively discussions and soaking up every moment, completely unaware that this would be our last day in the building as 8th graders. The hallways were filled with excitement, the sound of chatter and laughter echoing around us. As the day progressed, an unsettling tension began to creep in, but we brushed it off, convinced that everything would return to normal soon. Little did we know, the world outside our school walls was about to change drastically, and our
lives would never be the same again.

Ever since school locked down and many other places we had to stay home and buy everything we needed in order to survive. Stores and supermarkets were packed, everyone was scattered around trying to buy things. The beeping of checkout scanners, hum of refrigerators, conversations between the customers and workers, and the announcements over the loudspeaker. Everything was so overwhelming. 2 weeks after we found out schools were on lock down we still had school online which was very difficult. Everything was still new to me. I didn’t know what I was doing so I ended up almost failing a class. Later on, I ended up knowing what I was doing and started passing all my classes then graduating 8th grade on a laptop. The pandemic utterly ruined my 8th grade year.

Transitioning into high school was very challenging for me. My freshman year was also online too. I didn’t get the full high school experience. I didn’t know anyone nor spoke to anybody during our class zoom calls. From waking up one day looking at all my classes online to doing a bunch of different assignments online was one of the most chaotic experiences for me. Everytime I turned around it was always an assignment due. I still ended up passing. I was very stressed that i started stress eating which I ended up gaining weight unfortunately.

Entering high school in person had me in distress. I never felt like that before. I was always an outgoing kid. I blame the pandemic for the way I was sophomore year. The pandemic changed me. I never spoke to anybody nor made any friends because of how bad my anxiety was and how much weight I gained after the pandemic. Every time I walked inside the school I always felt embarrassed or felt if anybody said some things about me because of how awkward I was. This was a new environment for me. I wasn’t used to high school yet due to that my first year was online instead of in person. People would try to speak to me but my anxiety was so bad that I didn’t know how to respond to them even if the teacher pronounced my name incorrectly. I never corrected them, that’s how bad it was. I always had my face mask on because I didn’t want to be seen because of how much weight I gained.

The classes I took sophomore year were so challenging that I almost failed some of them. The classes I almost failed had me depressed for weeks. I couldn’t even properly knowing I was at the borderline of failing. I knew I had to study more because I just knew I wanted to get out of there and graduate, especially because I’m my mother’s first son to graduate high school. I had to do it for her. Every class I took was easy besides math and science. Gym was easy but every time I went to gym it seemed like everyone knew each other. I felt left out and didn’t want to engage in any of the activities. Gym was a very spacious area, shaped almost like a rectangle which can accommodate over 100 people. The sound of sneakers squeaking in the polished floors fills the air as students run around, hearing the echoes of the basketballs bouncing, students cheering while playing a game, and gym teachers using their whistles if they ever
caught students not engaging or using it for game purposes. Even if you had anxiety or were too nervous to engage in the activities you’ll still have to. I ended up successfully passing all my classes and going into my junior year.

Going into my junior year I felt more confident than ever, I took my face mask off, lost weight, and my social skills got better. A few people remembered me from sophomore year. “You look so different” “How did you lose all of that weight?” I didn’t know how to reply. I told
them “Thankyou”. People started talking and coming up to me to be friends which was very new to me. I felt way more comfortable in school knowing I made friends instead of being a loner like sophomore year. I started engaging in activities which were appalling to me. Everyone cheered for me in gym activities all the time. I just felt so different. Everything went successfully
my junior year.

I had the best time of my life senior year knowing that was my last year of highschool. Senior year was full of laughs and jokes which reminded me of my 8th grade year. Everything went successful knowing that I passed my exams, got accepted to many colleges, got scholarships, and awards. Life was just great. I felt like I accomplished a lot not only academically but mentally
too. The pandemic messed things up for me such as my social skills, motivation, and confidence which really gave me character development and changed me from who I am today. Everyone goes through many different things but there is always a way to get back up and do what you
have to do in order to succeed. Never give up.