Quarantine and our Future

By Turner Hill

Many have never faced separation the likes of which we are facing now during this pandemic. The gravity of the situation became clearer to all, the day Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp issued a shelter in place order. The future is uncertain, and this weighs heavily on the minds of the people of Lagrange, GA.

Percy Hurtado, a 25-year-old employee of Seoyon E-Hwa, a Kia supplier, worries that quarantine could cause him to lose his job if it goes on for much longer.

“Quarantine life is like a bad dream that continually drags on with seemingly no end in sight”, said Hurtado. The effects of Covid-19 on his future weigh on his mind more heavily every day that the pandemic continues.

Fortunately many people like 22-year-old Gabe Dowden have been able to retain their job security throughout this pandemic. Dowden is a director for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Lagrange, and said his job has changed since the start of this pandemic. “Quarantine has changed the way I am able to do my job and has forced me to adjust in unexpected ways,” said Dowden. He had hoped for a quick end to the shelter in place order so work could return to normal, but an extension of this order casts doubt in his mind about the end of quarantine. Dowden worries that the more time he misses the more things will not be able to return to normal once this ends.

This pandemic has had a great effect on the lives of those in the workforce but the effects do not stop there. College students across the country have been displaced and have had to adjust to a fully online semester. Duncan McClung is a 22-year-old horticulture major at the University of Georgia and has found this online switch to be particularly challenging.

After returning to Lagrange, McClung said“quarantine is hard because I cannot separate my home life and my school life and it is causing me to fall behind.”

He worries that a derailed semester such as this one could negatively affect his academic future as well as others’.

As things continue to seem bleak it is challenging to remain hopeful for the future for many but all those interviewed agreed that they have to believe things will get back to normal, because that’s all they can do.