REFLECT

KHALEM CALDWELL,

a sophomore from Chicago Ill., shares how he spent time reflecting during the stay-at-home order and learned something new.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed many people’s lives, as all pandemics do. However, most individuals will focus on the negatives instead of seeing the positives a pandemic can cause. Social media does its job by highlighting some of the unpleasant issues, like the heated battle between liberals and conservatives on what to do next with the economy or how the class of 2020 indeed got robbed of any final hooray.

Comparable to most college students, I had no idea the coronavirus jokes I saw on my twitter feed in January would inevitably keep me from leaving my own home, and threaten my summer.

Having to convert in-person classes to online was mental agony in itself, and I have a list of classmates, as well as teachers, who would vouch.

However, with all the negativity and complaints circling my head, as thoughts can be vultures, the pandemic was the mental break I needed.

AT FIRST, I WASTED MY TIME PLAYING VIDEO GAMES, DEVOURING HOME-COOKED MEALS, AND TALKING WITH MY FRIENDS, WHICH IN RETURN DISTURBED MY SLEEP SCHEDULE. THEN, OUT OF NOWHERE, I REALIZED A PANDEMIC IS TAKING PLACE, AND I KNOW NOTHING.

My professors would probably debate me on that last statement, yet, there is some truth to that.

I’m 19 and turning 20 in November. I don’t know how to file my taxes, real estate might as well be fake, and it turns out the stock market isn’t a place where you buy groceries.

I honestly couldn’t tell you where this epiphany came from, but it probably had something to do with me watching one of my favorite T.V. shows, Ballers. That, and my developing man crush on Elon Musk.

Upon my epiphany, I quickly opened my laptop and began researching the stock market. I landed into what is known as the “YouTube loophole”, and found myself watching a video on the hot new Netflix series, Tiger King.

I called it quits after watching that video, but that night I discovered a new passion for personal finance.

The pandemic led me to something I had no idea about, or wouldn’t even attempt to gain an understanding until I was neck-deep in student loan debt.

The concept of savings, inflation, and having a credit card, were afterthoughts until now. I mean, this experience led me into opening up a Roth IRA account. Something most people don’t think about my age, although they need to because compound interest is very sweet.

Now, personal finance doesn’t have to be your “calling”, yet I challenge everyone to be productive and discover something new. We are battling a formidable opponent in COVID-19, but surrendering is not an option. It is the perfect time to start building that business you always wanted or to take steps to achieve your desired physique.

What I’m trying to get at is, there’s light in every dark situation. We must look for it.

“When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

-Elon Musk