I never thought that I would get it. I was always so cautious, but one little mistake changed my whole view on the pandemic and the impact of Covid-19.

Like so many of us, when the virus got serious in March and school was shut down, I thought, “Wow this has to be a joke.”

Months later, the media coverage had me convinced how bad it was, and I realized that I needed to take the necessary precautions that the CDC was recommending to stay safe. But last month, I got COVID-19. I was exposed to someone with COVID, so the CDC recommended that I self-quarantined for 14 days and keep track of symptoms.

Day 1: A slight headache, but no major symptoms. 

Day 2: A more major headache and some more symptoms, but not huge ones that made me feel like I couldn’t get up and walk around my room. 

Day 3: I got tested and it surprisingly came back negative. I immediately knew after I left the doctor that I was most likely a false test. This was because I didn’t wait the right amount of days for my symptoms to show up. I waited until day five and that’s when things started to get a little more serious.

Day 5: I had fevers of 101.2-103.2, aching headaches, body aches, sore throat, coughing constantly, congestion and nausea, and trouble breathing. After these symptoms showed up, I went to the doctor and got tested again for COVID-19 and the flu. This was the beginning of the couple worst days. 

This wasn’t my first time that I had been tested, but the tests are never comfortable. I got three tests that day: a rapid COVID test, a flu test, and a PCR COVID test. About an hour later, I got a call from the doctor and was told that I had tested positive for COVID-19.

Day 6: This was one of the worst days. I had all the symptoms and all I wanted to do was sleep.  I couldn’t get up. My eyes hurt and they wouldn’t stop watering.

Day 7: At the end of the first week of quarantine, I lost my taste and smell. I had gotten really sick and couldn’t talk because of how my throat was feeling. 

I was better by Monday and went back to online school, but I still couldn’t leave my room. I still didn’t have my taste or smell until three weeks. 

I was in a lot of pain during quarantine, so I mostly slept, but the worst part of quarantine was the isolation.

I couldn’t be around my friends and family and that was miserable. When quarantine ended, nothing made me happier than being able to leave my room. After experiencing COVID, I don’t want to get it again, but it certainly helped me realize how dangerous it is, and how important it is to stay safe.