Quarantine

I remember when this lockdown was only supposed to last 2 weeks. Look at us now, 9 months in. This lockdown has been very hard emotionally, mentally and physically, not only for me but others as well. I am blessed to have a family who looks out for one another so much, we have been checking in on each other during this whole pandemic. However, I know there are people who have been struggling and possibly have no one to confide in. People have been losing their jobs, homes, relationships, and maybe even themselves. This whole pandemic has caused so many heartaches for many people. I wish there was a way to help everyone all at once and just be done with this. Although I have a family to help me in this time, I still am struggling. As a college student I miss seeing my friends every day, meeting new people, and learning face to face. The longer we sit here in quarantine numbers of suicide and abuse will continue to go up. For those who need hope, pick up a new hobby you can do safely. Train for a marathon, hike, paint, organize, DIY projects, do anything to increase your serotonin and help yourself mentally and physically. 

Teachers deserve more attention

There are not many controversial topics I will ever discuss in public and or on social media. I tend to keep my opinions to myself unless asked directly. However, there is one topic I will always stand for and defend; this is that teachers deserve more pay and more respect. I come from a long line of teachers. My grandma, her siblings, my mother, my aunt, and some more distant relatives are all teachers. With being on the “inside”, knowing how much teachers are put through and all they do, I am a big advocate for more pay and more respect for teachers. I am not only talking about elementary teachers, but any teacher, professor, for any subject and any age. They put in so much work every day for their students. By every day, I also include weekends, after hours, and even summer vacations. So many people are caught in this lie of “oh well teachers get the summer off” “teachers don’t even matter” “teachers don’t have a hard job, they just teach”, I have heard countless lies throughout the years from fellow colleague’s, adults, and people who don’t understand what teacher’s go through. Just this year alone, 2020, has been so hard, and people are still rude to teachers saying it is their faults we are online. Really people, really, do you not know it’s not a teacher’s fault we are in a global pandemic. In the past years I have helped my mom set up her classroom for the new school year, grade papers, help her understand math easier when the book gives wrong answers and terrible examples. I wish others could see all the time, money and energy teachers use when writing lesson plans, grading, and being a teacher. Teachers work so hard to receive so little support in return, they are actually teaching the future leaders of America, doctors, engineers, and all other majors. Teachers have such a huge roll in our life and I hope one day America will see that and help fight for more pay and more respect for our teachers, as I have had my whole life. 

Quarantine

Like any family during quarantine, we started thinking of different things to do. We redid a few rooms in the house, started some projects, finished most of them, but we still were missing something. We finally decided it was time to get a dog. We have been talking about getting a dog for about a year but never fully decided on a breed and we never thought it was the right time. However, with everything shut down and we were being forced to stay home we knew it was the right time. We did research for almost 4 for which dog breed would be the best to welcome home and we knew we wanted to rescue a dog. My mom wanted another small dog since we have a chihuahua, but my dad, brother and I all wanted a bigger dog. We decided on medium sized dogs and started looking at Pitbull's specifically. We have always loved Pitbull's, they are sweet dogs, they have short hair, and they were a medium sized dog. We looked and applied to what it seems like a million dog rescues and got turned away everywhere, which was very bizarre to us but we accepted it and moved on. We then started researching more medium sized dogs and specifically a dog that does not shed, or does not shed a lot. This was because my whole family has bad allergies, and my parents did not want all of the hair. After almost another month of researching I asked my mom about golden doodles. They were one of the best breeds of dogs since they are very smart, medium sized, don’t shed, great companions, adorable, and super friendly. After discussing golden doodles with my dad and brother, and we all agreed we needed to welcome one to our family. We looked and found our first golden doodle boy Beaumont. He is the sweetest, smartest, and goofiest dog we have ever met. Then exactly a month later we welcomed Georgia Rose, another golden doodle from a different breeder, to our family. She is the most adorable, cuddly, and loving girl we have had as well. Although it took us quite some time to come across this breed of dog, I know I will always have a special place in my heart for the most loving dogs I have ever met, and our family could not be more in love with our two new fur babies.  

Family Time

I have four people in my family. There’s my mom, dad, me and my younger brother. Growing up we have been very close. We do everything together. We eat dinner together, we go to church together, but most importantly we always have each other's back. Having this strong bond as a family has always been very special to me, I knew when I grow older and have my own family, we would have this tight of a bond. I never once thought I couldn’t tell my parents anything, we are a very open family who talk about the good and the bad. One special aspect of my family is we love watching shows together. Not just movies either, we watch shows that have multiple seasons that keep us together and have something to look forward to. We have watched a ton of reality shows including (but not limited to) Survivor, Bachelor, Bachelorette, Voice and all of the new ones as well. We not only watch shows that are on tv at the time but we have also watched The Mandalorian, The Office, and a family favorite, Parks and Rec. We do this so we have something to do once a week, or if we are binge watching every day. This is such a great idea that I hope others may want to also try out with their families to start spending more time together. I know for a fact when I have my own family, I will make sure we start series together and finish them together as well. 

Health

Sometimes I truly get mad at myself for all the health problems I have. I know they aren't my fault; I did not cause any of them, but I still get upset. There is one health issue I have the hardest time accepting I truly have, and will have the rest of my life. That is my heart condition. In the summer of 2018, I was diagnosed with a rare heart condition which is called Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (WPW for short). I know this is a mouthful of a condition, trust me I say it almost every day of my life now, and even more of a mouthful of a problem. In people who have WPW, like myself, we “have an extra electrical pathway between our heart’s upper and lower chambers causing rapid heartbeats” (Mayo Clinic). My face when my doctor was explaining the condition to me was priceless. What the doctor explained to me is since I have this extra pathway my heart rate speeds up faster than normal which causes dizziness, heart flutters, feeling “weird” and even can cause me to pass out, which has happened 2 times. With this heart condition sometimes can come with another heart issue, so to make sure I was all good I wore a heart monitor for a month. The heart monitor came back all good so I now just live my life knowing I have this rare heart condition. I am glad I now know what has been causing me to have unexplainable things happen to me, which I now know it was my heart having an extra pathway.