Rachel
Program Assistant, Orange County
At first for me the quarantine didn’t seem so bad, I generally moved around between libraries and our office to be more accessible to tutors. I’ve also tutored and worked online before and working from home didn’t seem all that strange to me. However not long into the quarantine my father had what the hospital called a hypertensive crisis, his blood pressure shot up to a dangerously high number and he had to be in the hospital for several days. Neither my mother nor I was allowed to be with him and it was a very weird limbo of talking to doctors and nurses every day to get information or updates. He was released with a few new meds and seemed better. However this crisis seemed to have exacerbated the symptoms of the stroke he had had several years ago. So my mother and I have to keep a much closer watch on things he does such as leaving the stove on or the water running or just any number of things. To say this has taken most of my attention is an understatement and focus on work has become difficult. I really appreciate that our tutors have been able to keep things running so smoothly and that they are so understanding. In a way, for my family, this quarantine has been a little bit of a blessing. I can work from home and help care for my father at the same time. He improves a very little bit every week and so we are hopeful that he’ll regain more cognitive functions and we won’t have to worry so much as time goes on. Especially when things go back to whatever normal we can get and I can once again be able to work closely with all my amazing tutors. We all have different struggles in this time, whether it’s caring for a relative or figuring out how to feed your family. I am always open to talk to anyone and we can share our struggles together and know we are not alone.
