COVID PODCAST-PIMENTEL

The podcast episode features interviews with young adults discussing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their lives. Maya shares how the pandemic affected her mental health, causing fear and isolation. Hannah reflects on how she learned to appreciate spending time alone during the pandemic, but also struggled with social skills after isolation. Jeremy discusses being laid off from work and the challenges of finding employment. Camila shares her success in starting her own business as a nail technician during the pandemic. The host also shares their personal experience of the pandemic, including isolation and finding inner peace. The episode emphasizes the importance of sharing stories and staying connected during challenging times. Welcome to Midori Talks, the show where we amplify the voices of young adults and explore the profound impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on their lives. I'm your host, Midori, and today we're diving into personal stories and experiences. Our guests today are here to show how they've navigated the challenges and changes brought about the pandemic. All right, guys, our first guest today is Maya Lerch, a 22-year-old public relations major. Maya, can you tell us a little bit about how the COVID pandemic affected your mental health, please? COVID-19 honestly felt like such a fever dream. I remember the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 all kind of feeling like a blur of the same year from hell. Um, I remember that I was scared. My mental health wasn't doing the best because I have an autoimmune disorder. And I thought, you know, what if someone coughs and my mask isn't up all the way and I contract it and I die. And it really had a negative effect on my mental health. And on top of that, I couldn't go outside. I couldn't see people. I mean, none of us could. And that had a negative effect on my mental health. And for me, having, you know, good, stable mental health means going outside, going and hanging out with friends, working out, socializing. And I was freshly single. I was in my freshman year at college. It was my second semester. And all of a sudden, I couldn't go back for a couple years. My grades weren't the best. I wasn't engaged. I was just at home, sleeping a lot, not exercising. And I was an essential worker too. So I was also just stressed. So it wasn't the best time for me. And it just felt weird for everyone. Like everyone was on the same page. No one had toilet paper. The freeways were empty. Women were giving birth by themselves without their support systems. And then on top of that, there were people who thought it wasn't real. It became very politicized. Yet people that I knew had passed away and their families are still, you know, facing repercussions. Their mental health still isn't the best. So, you know, COVID was, I wouldn't want to say essential, but I feel like everyone learned a valuable lesson from it. And maybe if you didn't have poor mental health before, maybe you understood, you know, what it meant to have poor mental health when you're locked up and you can't go outside. So I feel like it was such a learning experience for everyone. But it's really unfortunate that, you know, not just a couple people died, hundreds of thousands of people, like all around the world died and it didn't have to happen. And yet everyone was scared. I completely agree. Although I'm not too sure I agree about the toilet paper part. That would kind of be a shit show if we didn't have any toilet paper, literally. Benhu, thank you so much for sharing your experience. All right, guys, our next guest today is Hannah Perrini, a 22-year-old graphic design major. Hannah, can you tell us a little bit about the COVID pandemic and what it taught you about yourself? I can definitely say that COVID taught me so much about the type of person that I am. And I can definitely say that before the pandemic, I had a really hard time with just spending time by myself, whether it be going to the beach on my own or going to a restaurant by myself. But I would say that during the pandemic, I spent a lot of time on my own. And now I just, I mean, I love to go to the beach by myself and, you know, listen to the waves crash or just reading on my own or journaling, just doing stuff for myself, which is something that I just really didn't have that much of an appreciation for before the pandemic. And I was almost scared to do things on my own, but now I embrace it and I think it can be so fun to just spend time with yourself. But one of the negatives, though, from the pandemic that I will say was I realized how introverted I am and how awkward I can be. I feel like it was really hard for me to come back from the pandemic and be very outgoing and extroverted and such because I had spent so many months just in my room, in lockdown, not really talking to people as much face-to-face. And so coming out of the pandemic, kind of regaining a lot of my social skills was a little tricky, but we're doing good now. No, yeah, I completely agree with you, Hannah. I feel like we have actually very similar stories that I'll actually be sharing later on in the podcast. So thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Next up, we have Jeremy, who had actually experienced difficulties within his career working at the Santa Monica Pier. Jeremy, can you tell us a little bit about this, please? Yeah, sure. So the way the pandemic affected my work life was basically I was told by my company that for two weeks that we're going to be off because they didn't expect COVID to be that big. And that two weeks turned into a whole year of me being off and laid off at work. I mean, I was able to stay home and I was getting work unemployment checks. So that was the only thing I was paying my bills. And then eventually I ended up getting a job at Amazon and working through the pandemic until my job at the Pier opened back up and I quit Amazon to go back to my normal job. Damn, that must have been really difficult being unemployed for a whole year. My mom actually was laid off during the pandemic and she continues to struggle, unfortunately, to find a job to this day. So yeah, I can understand how difficult it must have been for you, especially with a kid that you have to support and whatnot. Thank you, Jeremy, for sharing your personal story. All right, guys, it looks like we're almost out of time. So we'll be moving on to our last guest today, Camila Garcia. Despite the difficulties that the pandemic had brought, Camila actually created her own highly successful business as a certified nail technician. Camila, can you share your story with us, please? All right, guys, as we wrap up these conversations, it's obviously clear that the pandemic had reshaped the lives of these young adults in various different ways. I want to personally thank our guests, Maya, Hannah, Jeremy, and Camila for sharing their stories and insights with us today. I really appreciate it. Now I'd like to provide a very short story of my own personal experience with the pandemic and how it affected me after this quick break. All right, guys, welcome back. So now it's my turn to share a little brief story. So basically in the early days of COVID, the isolation had honestly felt like a very brief pause and unexpected vacation almost from the hectic routine that I was so used to. At the time, I was living on campus in San Bernardino while working full time out there. I was meeting new people, exploring a side of me that I had honestly never seen before because I had finally had a sense of freedom. To be honest, I was partying a lot and I did spend a lot of my time going out to meet new people because this was also new to me, especially since I didn't know anyone out there. Then the pandemic hit. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, then into years. Suddenly, I was back home in LA doing my school online while working full time over here. I struggled tremendously with focusing on my online classes as I craved face-to-face social interaction. I became lazy. I would fall asleep during my classes. I lost contact with the majority of my friends that I had just made and became extremely introverted. I became extremely anxious when I had to talk to people at work since I was still considered an essential worker and lost a lot of my communication skills that I had worked so hard on. I broke out of my shell, then suddenly I was right back in it again. Time passed on and I had found a new love for doing things on my own. Going to the beach alone and listening to the waves. Going on hikes by myself to listen to the birds chirp and the creeks trickle. Going to eat by myself and just sit in my car alone. I was finally becoming okay with being on my own and just left in my own thoughts. This created a new self-confidence that I had never felt before and honestly, I prefer doing things solo to this day such as going to the gym. Despite my negative education career experience that many others felt as well during the pandemic, I can say that the one good thing that did arise during it was that I had finally found my inner peace. I appreciate y'all for tuning in and to our listeners if you guys have a story that you guys want to share or just want to continue this conversation connect with us on social media or through our website at midoritalks.32. Remember your voice matters and together we'll navigate the challenges that lie ahead. Until next time, this is Midori signing off for Midori Talks. Stay healthy and stay connected.