Tell Your Story – Mimi Duong

Up next in our “Tell Your Story” project is Mimi Duong, and this is the first post in her series.

Mimi Duong

Hi everyone, my name is Mimi Duong and I am a Junior at Iowa State majoring in Finance and minoring in Marketing. Currently I am in my hometown of Davenport, Iowa due to the Coronavirus. Here, there are 3 positive cases so far. I consider Iowa State as my second home and I struggle daily not being able to be there. It is also difficult knowing that even though I’m not living there, I still must pay rent. I am lucky enough to be able to pay, but I know people that are struggling and large apartment complexes like mine are not offering any type of help, which sucks. I honestly do not recall the first time I heard about COVID-19. I do know, it took over the discussion topic in my courses like a storm. When the university started canceling study abroad sessions and sending students home, it became the main topic of almost all my conversations. 

It has affected my life in multiple ways. One being I am at home and alone for the majority of my day. Unlike a lot of other parents, mine cannot work from home. My dad runs a small Chinese restaurant that is currently only doing take-out and delivery, but cannot afford to close completely. My mom works at a healthcare facility, which is doing curbside checkups (which I think is a great idea, they see the patients suspected of having Coronavirus in hazmat suits outside), so she must go to work. It’s hard to see not only my parents, but society as a whole struggle. 

Online learning has made me feel like I have too much free time. I constantly feel like I am missing an assignment or forgetting to do something. It’s difficult for me to focus because I get sidetracked easily, so I need to build up my self-motivation. I enjoyed going to class and having structure to my life. Now, I feel like I sit around and watch “Love is Blind” and “Tiktok” too much. I told myself I would not get into bad habits, but yet here I am. 

Social distancing has affected the interaction with others that I enjoy. I like catching up and interacting with people, whether it is at school, work, or even the mall. I feel like I learn something new every day from being around other people and now I can’t. I have a friend that recently got back from studying abroad in London and she will be celebrating her 21st birthday in quarantine. I also will most likely be in the same situation, because my birthday is April 9th. I know that sacrifices have to be made, and I understand the severity of the situation, it is just the way it has to be.

In the beginning, I struggled with finding things to do throughout the day. Now I find myself adjusting to the small interactions with others and creating a schedule. 

I am not going to lie; the first two days were rough. I sat around and just felt myself slowly becoming a couch potato and tired for no reason. I did not have any interactions with people other than my parents and it was killing me. I searched the internet for how others have adjusted to self-isolation and how I can get rid of this feeling almost incomplete. It was a relief to see that I was not alone and that others suffered from the same things I was going through. One of them being that I googled everyday if the itchiness in my throat was a symptom of COVID-19. It was just my allergies. After talking to others and doing some research, I have realized that it’s not just me feeling this way and freaking out over the slightest sign of sickness, but I do need to relax and get myself together. 

Gradually, I found myself getting into a daily routine, that did not make me feel so empty at the end of the day. I would start my day with yoga to get my muscles moving and energized. I would talk to friends from school, class, work, and home to have some interaction with others, to reduce the feeling of loneliness. I really enjoy going on runs each day to get some fresh air and it is surprising how normal the world feels on a nice day outside. One would never know there was a national pandemic. Sometimes I found myself just in awe with the amount of people outside interacting with each other. For example, I saw four individuals walking one dog. Another aspect of my routine is getting ahead in my schoolwork to make sure I am not missing anything and to pass the time. When my mom is home we like to bake and it is something that I look forward to. It helps me put my mind at ease. Each day I find myself finding something new to do, this is to either keep myself busy, or even interact with others. These activities include finding new ways to style my clothes such as bleaching sweatshirts, making whipped coffee, or suggesting a zoom session with my friends. I personally struggle most with not being able to interact with others, so I find myself thinking of new ways to do this virtually. I am curious to see what new regulations will be put in place, and the steps that everyone will have to take, so that we can go back to normal.