A Year in the (Quarantine) Life

March 13, 2020 was supposed to be a normal Friday. I never knew that it would be the day that a new normal would begin.

At first, I was overjoyed. At that point, my mental health was bad and it was going to be nice doing school from home.

My opinion changed. Fast.

I would dread waking up to online classes. It may be weird, but I missed waking up at 6 in the morning. I missed getting annoyed by my family while I was trying to wake myself up. I even missed putting on my uniform. 

But the worst part was not being able to see my friends every day. Sure, FaceTime was a good way to communicate with my friends, but nothing beats in-person communication.

When things began to open back up in the summer, I was optimistic that normalcy would return. While some restrictions were lifted, most weren’t, so there still wasn’t much to do. By the second week of summer, I was already looking forward to going back to school in the fall. 

There was one highlight of my summer: virtual theatre camp. I was able to be with people who shared my interests while staying safe. It was nice to have two weeks to look forward to, though I did wish I could be in-person having fun.

Getting the news that we would be in person for the fall was great. Even for two days a week, I could see my friends that I hadn’t seen all summer.

The excitement quickly faded. As the school year got into full swing, I was back to staring at a computer screen trying to get my homework done. When I finally got the hang of the new schedule, life took a turn.

In late October, a week before my birthday, both of my parents contracted COVID-19. Fortunately, I tested negative 3 times, but I still had to quarantine for about 4 weeks because of Delaware health guidance. Having to spend my birthday in quarantine made me upset because I was looking forward to having a small party on my birthday that followed the COVID guidelines. Instead, I was stuck at home with my family. My mental health got worse, and with my mental health went my grades.

When I returned to school, I was much happier and my grades got better. I was able to see my friends and I was back in a groove. My mental health got better and I became hopeful that the pandemic would be over soon.

With news of multiple vaccines, this pandemic is hopefully coming to an end and normalcy will return. If there’s two things I’ve learned from this pandemic, they are, one: make the most of every minute, and two: always wear your mask.