How have students at Arapahoe Community College felt since the strong changes brought on by COVID-19? #COVIDDiariesOfACC is a mini-series composed of non-fiction diary entries from students at ACC. Thank you to the student contributing writers for these pieces to publish on the Arapahoe Pinnacle.

By Tim Knott

Last time we saw each other was on March 11^th, most things changed at once, since the initial stuff things have slowed down to a maddening degree. I reserved my cap and gown that night when I got home from class, for those who aren’t aware that is foreshadowing. On March 12^th spring break got expanded to two weeks. The first spring break my daughter was still in daycare even though I was home all day, I receive something called CCAP to help pay for daycare since the woman who birthed my daughter is a deadbeat parent who owes thousands of dollars of child support. If Adia misses more than two days in a month I have to pay at a rate of $56 per day and as a broke-ass college student, I just don’t have that kind of money. The decision to shut down her center came on Thursday of that week, so I didn’t take her in on that Friday since she hadn’t missed a day in March, turned out to be a good bet. I’ve been shopping a couple of times and I haven’t seen anyone actively being a dick, no extreme acts of kindness either, everyone has just kind of been dealing.

I started working remotely in the second week of spring break which was a nice distraction, I’m able to keep half an eye on Adia and direct her to different tasks, we take an hour each day to go outside so she could run around and we both can scream. I’ve been pretty good about social distancing, I admit that my daughter is spending the night at grandma and grandpa’s house tonight and tomorrow, we live in a tiny one-bedroom, it really isn’t fair to keep her cooped up in a space that small. She turns five in April and just doesn’t understand why we can’t have a party at Lollipop Park. I found out yesterday that the ACC commencement ceremony has been canceled. I was looking forward to dressing up with my PTK stole and showing off my graduation gift to myself. I will share a picture of it at the end of the semester, it was going to be a huge hit at the ceremony, but such is life with coronavirus.

I’m scared. I’m scared that I’m not going to be able to make rent eventually. I’m scared that we are going to need something and it won’t be available. I’m scared that my weight is going to balloon. I’m scared that something catastrophic is going to come up and I won’t be able to handle it. I’m scared I’ll fall into a deep depression and fail my classes. I’m scared that my daughter is going to be scarred by this experience. I’m scared. Some of the fear is rational, most of it isn’t.

I’ve been trying to listen to lots of podcasts and music, avoiding the tv for the most part, although I did finish Tiger King today and it was a journey. This Friday some friends and I are going to play a game of Pandemic via video chat, that should be a welcome distraction.