A Student-Run News Publication

Life of Quarantine (U*rtwhy5iyjothlg)

Because of the rise of coronavirus cases here in Colorado, many people are social distancing and quarantining themselves to their homes. For a typical high school student, it looks a little like this:

I try to wake up anywhere from 7:30 to 8:30 and immediately do my online attendance so I don’t get marked as absent (something I almost forgot to do on the fourth day of online schooling whoops). After waking up, I eat breakfast, brush my teeth, take a shower, and then jump into online school by 9:30. I crank out as much as I can before I need a break (usually happening by noon), and take a nap or play video games until I feel well-rested and ready to do more work if I have any. If I don’t have work, I’ll complete some self-assigned chores or required chores and try to workout for 30 minutes in my basement gym. After that, dinner, movie, relaxation, bed, repeat. Somedays this plan doesn’t workout due to outside forces, but other than that it has remained relatively stable. Relatively stable is key here.

During the break, it sometimes seems that my parents forget that I do actually have online schooling and that it requires a good amount of time to complete. They’ll randomly pop in and ask me to do something that takes a good amount of time (i.e. bake a loaf of bread, vacuum the house, clean the bathrooms, etc.) and then get angry when I don’t do it because I had a test to complete. Now, most of the time I can do them, but when I’m talking to my teachers over a video chat or trying to do my biology midterm, it’s nice to have at least an hour of time left alone to complete my work. If anything, this is coming off as a rich white boy complaining about his loving parents who just want him to do something, but with this happening almost every 2 hours, it adds up and gets quite annoying.

Now, with the exception of having to do additional work around the house (absolutely horrid), I have been enjoying online schooling. I like doing everything at my own pace, and having time to myself. I do miss my friends time-to-time, but I am an introvert and prefer time to myself at my home, so it’s nice to get that for a whole month after stressing out about school almost everyday. To the people who are getting stir-crazy or who have complicated home lives, I’m genuinely sorry for you and I hope that you can get the help you need, whether it be escaping from the house to hangout with friends or just having your own time in your room. I get it, your family can suck. But it’s important to remember that this isn’t forever, and you’ll get to go outside and do things (and possibly get back to school) in about a month. With that note, I hope I get to see you guys soon, and that you all stay healthy and safe. Happy quarantining! 🙂