CHICO — Four years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay at home order that would leave people wondering for months what to do in a world where work ceased.
Downtown Chicoans knew exactly where they were during the initial moments of the pandemic, and reflected on the four years that have passed since — for better or worse.
Cam Fennell
Cam Fennell said he began COVID-19 lockdown in the middle of a toxic relationship with a woman he’s glad to report is no longer with him. They lived in his parents’ vacant house in Red Bluff.
Fennel
“Being locked down in a house with a toxic partner for that amount of time was not healthy for anybody,” Fennell said. “Me, myself and I, that was not healthy. For her, not healthy. So all the way around.”
Lockdowns also put Fennell out of his dishwashing job; the food industry which Fennell had experience for was not hiring for a long time, he said.
“It was definitely a struggle to find work. I remember applying for like four months straight to every single place that I could. Nobody was taking it; nobody was biting,” Fennel said.
Now, he is in Chico, living out of his car, working a stable job in food service and working on music with his friends.
“Now I’m not tied down with that girl any more,” He said. “Now I’m just trying to get a place with my homeboy and live life.”
Julian Whalen
Julia Whalen showed up to Redding two weeks before he started his first year of college, hoping to get to know the area first. He’d been given notice that his start date was being pushed.
Whalen
“Everyone was scrambling to figure out what was going on. My roommate was still going to class and I was just hanging out playing video games all day,” Whalen said. “It’s weird like moving into a new town, and all of the sudden you can’t take in the experience.”
But in that time, Whalen said he was still able to meet new people and strengthen his old friendships. And now he’s studying media at Chico State.
“When borders started to lift and people were getting vaccinated, we were able to hang out — old buddies back home and new friends I met.”
Sebastian Caetanu
In his freshman year at Chico State, Sebastian Caetanu was a business major but went back home when lockdowns began. Then he switched to graphic design; a change he attributes to lockdowns.
Caetanu
“It was my freshman year, and during that spring break I was not able to come back until about eight months later,” Catanu said. “Business classes; very involved mathematically and all that. So doing them at home and without people to work on projects with it was definitely a little grating,” Caetanu said.
Now Caetanu is doing social media management work as he goes to school.
“I’m actually really happy with that, and I don’t think I would have done that if I didn’t switch majors. Maybe things happen for a reason,” Tetanus said.
Salem Rivera
Salem Rivera wasn’t too excited before COVID lockdowns began, which she says didn’t affect her immediate plans at the time.
“I was just working this stupid little hotel job. I was 21 and when everything happened it just happened so quick. I just felt stuck in this loop, I guess you could say.
While lockdowns kept Rivera indoors, it didn’t stop her from doing the things she wanted to do later, like travel to Paris.
“As much as we were apart and isolated during COVID, I felt very connected to people because thankfully we have social media,” Rivera said. “It was interesting because I was able to reconnect with so many more people from my past that I hadn’t spoken to in a few years.
John Kelly
John Kelly was studying plant biology in Michigan, and now works in Chico for the U.S. Forest Service.
Kelly
Kelly said it’s hard to say exactly if lockdowns affect his trajectory in life, but there were moments unique to the situation.
“It sent me home from college, that was a pretty big deal at the time,” Kelly said. “In a lot of ways, COVID did give me time to reflect on what I wanted out of my time at college. And a lot of the times where I would have been socializing, I was kind of out in the woods pursuing that.”
Melissa Theide
Melissa Theide just quit her job one week before COVID as she and her brother decided to open Stoble Coffee in Chico.
Theide
Theide was at Ikea when she heard news broke about a quarantine. Then moving to Chico, she found something else aligned in her wheelhouse: starting the social media page Discover Chico.
“That led me to start Discover Chico and meeting people around town. And now I quit the job I came here for and do that full time. I wasn’t planning on staying. COVID made me put down roots.”
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