Editor’s note: “The new normal” is a continuing series that looks into how members of the Los Medanos College community are coping with a shelter-in-place order amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Living life in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic has become the new normal for many people, including Los Medanos College student Annalicia Gutierrez who feels the emotional sting of social distancing. 

Since the shelter-in-place in California started, she hasn’t been outside of her house other than when she walks her dog.

 “I miss seeing my friends and family,” said Gutierrez. 

What makes this situation more difficult is that she lives on the same block as her grandma, but due to the shelter-in-place order, she’s keeping her grandma safe by not visiting her. 

“It’s hard not going over to see her,” she said.

 As for transitioning to online classes, Gutierrez said it has been a weird experience for her. Like many students, she was used to going to LMC and sitting in a classroom with her classmates and teacher. 

“Now I just get to listen to lectures and do classwork on my bed,” she said. It’s a little harder to do work in this fashion because “being at home gives me more opportunities to procrastinate,” she explained.

 But Gutierrez is trying new ways to get her classwork done and keep herself focused on tasks she has to complete. 

One of those new strategies is “giving myself a set schedule and keeping my phone out of sight,” she said.

The uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic has many people, including Gutierrez concerned for what is to come. 

“I’m very worried about certain people in my family getting COVID-19 because they are more susceptible to it. It has just filled me with a lot of uncertainty about the future,” she said.