Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in the United States, many students have been feeling the weight of its effects. School is closed until mid-April, along with almost all spring sports, concerts, restaurants, and stores until further notice.
As a result of the temporary national shutdown, many students’ spring breaks have been cancelled or have decided not to go for the sake of their health. The cancellations left many students feeling down as they were looking forward to these trips, according to Megan Rabaut ’21. She said she was supposed to go on a trip to Mexico with some of her friends, but decided to call it off because of the coronavirus.
“It was going to be my first time going on a plane to somewhere warm and I was finally going to see the ocean,” Rabaut said. “The cancellation was really sad for me because it was basically my senior spring break, even though I’m a junior. It was something that I really wanted to happen because all of my friends who are seniors were going. The whole point of the trip was to have a last hoorah with my friends before they went to college.”
Since the outbreak was completely unexpected, Rabaut said, many trips weren’t cancelled until last minute– because of that, getting a refund isn’t a guarantee.
“We haven’t gotten the tickets back yet, but they just cancelled the flight to Mexico today,” Rabaut said. “Whether we’ll get money or a refund is still something that’s up in the air.”
Chloe Dvonch ’21 said she was going to go on a rowing trip with her team, and for some of her team who are seniors, this would have been their last trip.
“I was supposed to go to Oak Ridge Tennessee for a spring training trip with my rowing team,” Dvonch said. “It was cancelled due to the coronavirus. I was really sad about it because I worked hard for it and that the rest of my season was cancelled along with it. This is something that we, as a team, were looking forward to all winter. It would have been a great experience for everyone.”
They are also uncertain about the status of the money that was put into the trip, according to Dvonch.
“Hopefully, we’re not losing any money on the trip, but we haven’t got the details of refunding yet,” Dvonch said. “From the looks of it, we will probably get refunded for a part of it, but maybe not the whole thing.”
Many students have been left feeling disappointed and isolated not just because of the cancellations, but because of quarantine and the push to practice social distancing, according to school psychologist Lisa Khoury. She said even though all these cancellations are disappointing, they are well-evaluated decisions that should not be taken lightly.
“This is something me and my family are grappling with, too,” Khoury said. “A lot of advice being given by officials makes people feel like there are many restrictions on spring break travel. That being said, I feel that everyone needs to assess their situation and make the best decision. That is what (my family) is doing, too.”
According to Khoury, the coronavirus is nothing to be taken lightly, as flattening the curve is vital to stopping the spread of it.
“By staying away from others, we can avoid spreading or getting the virus,” Khoury said. “If more and more people get infected, the probability that more people will need medical attention or even life-saving equipment will increase, and we don’t have medicine or enough medical equipment to cure people or keep them alive if this increase occurs. By slowing or stopping the spread of this virus, we can reduce the number of sick people and save lives.”