The effect of COVID-19 on an individual

In the midst of the Covid-19 outbreak, the world has almost entirely shut down.

People are barred from meeting each other due to the risk of infection, and the new motto exclaimed by leaders and politicians alike is, “Stay home!”

Alex Eddinger is a Lehigh University student with a 4.0 grade point average and a strong intent to keep it that way. When the colleges decided that the Spring and Fall semesters would go online, Eddinger knew he needed to make some adjustments if he wanted to keep his high GPA.

“To keep getting assignments done on a regular basis, I simply record as many due dates as possible on a desktop planner app or on a physical notepad,” Eddinger said.

He gave an example of his calendar which showed times for everything from games with his friends to studying for a test.

“Although this does not seem too different from before the pandemic, keeping dates is probably one of the biggest reasons why I can even keep up with assignments,” Eddinger said.

Though his tone was very calm, Eddinger clarified how tough and difficult this has been on him.

“Admittedly my motivation levels are at an all-time low.” He tries to counteract these feelings by working hard to maintain personal relationships. Eddinger owes his friends for helping him balance life amidst the chaos.

“To keep friendships afloat sometimes you need to find a multiplayer game like Among Us, as a bored group of friends will likely become dissolved and forgotten with the social distancing rules and restrictions,” He said.

Alex Eddinger is a strong student with a consistent GPA, keeping it that way has been anything but easy. With his tough curriculum focusing on lab based chemistry, which translates poorly to online classes, scheduling and friends has pulled him through this pandemic.

“One can always try and find sense in all the chaos but what’s the point if you try to figure out everything alone?”