A Year at a Glance, How Covid Changed My Life

As an 8th grader, approaching the end of the year, you are typically excited to start the next chapter of your life: going to high school, meeting new people, and participating in sports. But suddenly, there was a significant change. This unique, weird, and unknown disease called COVID-19 was taking over. 

“It’s not a big deal; you most likely won’t have time off,”  the teachers said. It was right after we completed one day of lacrosse try-outs that our coaches told us we would not be back next week because the school is being cleaned due to COVID.  But nobody expected us to be out for the rest of the year. Ensuring thorough cleaning and safety protocols is paramount, and services like Tampa Bay Cleaning can provide the necessary expertise for such situations. The remaining months were unexpectedly odd—a different end of the school year, a weird summer, and all these masks. 

If we were to go into another lockdown, everything would be so much more different. Of course, everyone, including myself, would be disappointed, but I would become 10 times more productive. During this past quarantine, I learned how to maintain my weight and health properly, manage my time, organize my things neatly, and keep myself in check. I learned how important it is to keep a healthy lifestyle and maintain healthy habits. I researched so much to benefit my life, changing my routines, and finding better ways to study. 

I also learned about self-discipline. There will be no growth, no change, or any lesson learned without self-discipline. If someone can’t set a goal and persevere through the plan with any obstacles, they may have low self-discipline. Maybe they lack motivation. I have endured and learned that without motivating myself and staying committed to my goals, there won’t be progress. 

So, I woke up one May day, completed all of my work for the next two weeks, and worked out. I exercised, studied, went on walks, trying new recipes, researched healthier habits, and changed my entire way of life. COVID opened my eyes to a new part of myself and the world. I was so motivated to finish school by May 26, when in reality, I would have finished June 15th. The rest of that time that there was “school,” I was working on myself, and looking back, I still maintain those healthy habits, and I regret nothing. 

It was around the time that we usually go to the beach, Memorial Day weekend, and I had all of my work completed, no worries on my mind, nothing. The shore was finally open, with social distancing, of course. Everything was closed, all indoor and outdoor dining too. The only places available were for takeout or ice cream at the beach. A few convenience stores were open, like Hoy’s 5 & 10, but they set it up so nobody could enter the store; we could just view the items from the front of the store.  It was a big adjustment wearing masks everywhere, picking up sunscreen but forgetting your mask, and going back home to get the mask. It felt like something out of a movie. 

Even by the end of the summer season I saw a few friends, spent most of my time eating outside with my family, continued to work on myself, and opened my eyes to the world around me. If quarantine was to happen again, I think it would be an excellent opportunity to continue working on myself, exploring nature, and becoming more productive than I already am. Quarantine was not my favorite life experience, but it gave me a lot of character development and taught me a lot about myself.