Juggling work and college can be a challenge. That’s why Amani Norwood, a junior Biology major, was looking forward to her daughter’s first birthday.

Until COVID-19 hit.

“This was the craziest stuff I [had] ever experienced,” Norwood said. ”Nobody expected [any] of this to happen, so how do you even prepare?”

Norwood’s job at Kohl’s was deemed essential, which helped to pay bills, but her plans for a relaxed summer vanished. Instead, she worried about how COVID-19 may affect her future. She worried about catching the infection and passing it on to her daughter.

“As the school year got closer it just stressed me out 100 times more because all I could think was, what am I going to do now,” she said.

School has always been a priority to Norwood because of the career path she wants to pursue, but the COVID-19 situation has her worried.

“I want to be a pediatrician so why stop now when I know someday I’ll be making a difference in this world,” she said. But she also wonders whether the infection will get in the way of her training.

Norwood’s family helped her get through the stressful summer. With two older sisters, two younger sisters and one older brother, there were plenty of people around who could understand the hardships she faced during this whole ordeal. They helped her make it through the summer.

“She almost didn’t,” said older sister Amari. “Luckily all of her siblings were able to step in to help her out when she thought she was going to lose her mind.”