“I would definitely say that the person I was before Covid has completely changed.”

 

Naliyah Bailey is a 19-year-old college student.  At first, the COVID 19 pandemic was really  hard for her. She lost out on her senior prom, she could no longer hang out with her friends, and she was forced to stay home and only be with her family for extended periods of time. Naliyah spent a lot of those days just in bed watching TV  and not doing anything because she did not have any motivation.

 

So with the pandemic going on, Naliyah started working at a Sonic Drive-In at the end of her senior year in high school. Naliyah was  making good money but dealing with rude customers and racist people every day. This was a lot to handle especially during  all the Black Lives Matter protests that were happening at the time. Not only were people rude and racist to her, but there were just so many  people who were coming into the drive-in:,”there were birthday parties, get-togethers,” and other large group meetings all the time. This made Naliyah uncomfortable for her own physical health and the health of the family. 

 

  Fortunately, Naliyah was able to obtain a job at Home Depot in the garden department. This was a positive change for Naliyah because she loves plants and is not constantly surrounded by people. She gets to walk around and  gets to be around plants all day and  help people find plants. 

 

Naliyah is now almost finished with her first year of college, a year of school that has been almost completely online. She continues to work hard at her job and is staying as safe as she can. She believes that the pandemic will slowly get better. And she wants to continue to work on her mental health and keep bettering herself as a person.