At the beginning of December, I was exposed to COVID-19, and in the middle of December, I tested positive for COVID-19. For me, I was not personally worried about getting the virus, I just did not want people around me that were more vulnerable to the virus getting it from me, so I tried to stay safe, always wear a mask whenever I was out, and was just very focused on being cautious in the hopes of not being exposed to COVID-19.

I am a relatively healthy twenty year old girl. I am not immunocompromised in any way. I have rarely been sick other than having colds every once in a while, so I thought, very ignorantly, that COVID-19 would be a complete breeze for me. For some reason in my mind, I had no doubt that I would be asymptomatic. Although my symptoms were no where near the pain and terror that others are experiencing, I had most of the major symptoms for COVID-19. The first thing to go for me was my taste and smell, and over two weeks later and my taste and smell is no where as strong or as vivid as it once was. While I was contagious and symptomatic for COVID-19, I was extremely fatigued, and I still have tons of lingering fatigue. After being up and moving for two hours, I feel like I need to rest and lay down, and this is no where near the energy level and drive I once had. I would wake up in the middle of the night dry heaving and feeling severe nausea with a nasty cough.

Again, I am a relatively healthy twenty year old with no preexisting health conditions and this is how COVID-19 has affected me. Our generation feels invincible to all things. All on my feeds I see people traveling, partying, and going anywhere and everywhere their heart desires.

My plea to you all, whether you are vacationing, partying with friends, or just overall not masking up is to stop. Not only are you endangering those around you that might be more susceptible than you are, but you are also negatively impacting yourself more than you might think. There are so many unknowns with COVID-19, so it is much better to take this time to help stop the spread then to be part of the problem.

Do your part, mask up, stop the spread, the world thanks you.