These photos were shot and submitted during the 2020 Hearst Journalism Awards National Photojournalism Championship where I placed as a finalist. The competition took place in June, and were the first photos I had taken in months since COVID-19 stopped life for me.

Sheltering-in-place has been one of the most difficult times of my life. These last few months have been a blur, and I have seen some of the most exciting opportunities for me, my career and my life slip away. I was supposed to leave the country for the first time, I was supposed to have an amazing internship this summer, I was supposed to go to DC to study first amendment law and controversies, I was supposed to do an amazing story about an amazing family battling Spina Bifida, and so much more. Instead, I find myself in a haze, scrolling for miles, my mental health spiraling, my relationship struggling, my camera collecting dust on a shelf. Quarantine has felt timeless, each day and night blur together and so I have decided to refrain from including times or dates.