my life before quarantine essay

One Student's Perspective on Life During a Pandemic

• Markkula Center for Applied Ethics
• Ethics Resources
• Ethics Spotlight
• COVID-19: Ethics, Health and Moving Forward

The pandemic and resulting shelter-in-place restrictions are affecting everyone in different ways. Tiana Nguyen, shares both the pros and cons of her experience as a student at Santa Clara University.

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Tiana Nguyen ‘21 is a Hackworth Fellow at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. She is majoring in Computer Science, and is the vice president of Santa Clara University’s Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) chapter .

The world has slowed down, but stress has begun to ramp up.

In the beginning of quarantine, as the world slowed down, I could finally take some time to relax, watch some shows, learn to be a better cook and baker, and be more active in my extracurriculars. I have a lot of things to be thankful for. I especially appreciate that I’m able to live in a comfortable house and have gotten the opportunity to spend more time with my family. This has actually been the first time in years in which we’re all able to even eat meals together every single day. Even when my brother and I were young, my parents would be at work and sometimes come home late, so we didn’t always eat meals together. In the beginning of the quarantine I remember my family talking about how nice it was to finally have meals together, and my brother joking, “it only took a pandemic to bring us all together,” which I laughed about at the time (but it’s the truth).

Soon enough, we’ll all be back to going to different places and we’ll be separated once again. So I’m thankful for my living situation right now. As for my friends, even though we’re apart, I do still feel like I can be in touch with them through video chat—maybe sometimes even more in touch than before. I think a lot of people just have a little more time for others right now.

Although there are still a lot of things to be thankful for, stress has slowly taken over, and work has been overwhelming. I’ve always been a person who usually enjoys going to classes, taking on more work than I have to, and being active in general. But lately I’ve felt swamped with the amount of work given, to the point that my days have blurred into online assignments, Zoom classes, and countless meetings, with a touch of baking sweets and aimless searching on Youtube.

The pass/no pass option for classes continues to stare at me, but I look past it every time to use this quarter as an opportunity to boost my grades. I've tried to make sense of this type of overwhelming feeling that I’ve never really felt before. Is it because I’m working harder and putting in more effort into my schoolwork with all the spare time I now have? Is it because I’m not having as much interaction with other people as I do at school? Or is it because my classes this quarter are just supposed to be this much harder? I honestly don’t know; it might not even be any of those. What I do know though, is that I have to continue work and push through this feeling.

This quarter I have two synchronous and two asynchronous classes, which each have pros and cons. Originally, I thought I wanted all my classes to be synchronous, since that everyday interaction with my professor and classmates is valuable to me. However, as I experienced these asynchronous classes, I’ve realized that it can be nice to watch a lecture on my own time because it even allows me to pause the video to give me extra time for taking notes. This has made me pay more attention during lectures and take note of small details that I might have missed otherwise. Furthermore, I do realize that synchronous classes can also be a burden for those abroad who have to wake up in the middle of the night just to attend a class. I feel that it’s especially unfortunate when professors want students to attend but don’t make attendance mandatory for this reason; I find that most abroad students attend anyway, driven by the worry they’ll be missing out on something.

I do still find synchronous classes amazing though, especially for discussion-based courses. I feel in touch with other students from my classes whom I wouldn’t otherwise talk to or regularly reach out to. Since Santa Clara University is a small school, it is especially easy to interact with one another during classes on Zoom, and I even sometimes find it less intimidating to participate during class through Zoom than in person. I’m honestly not the type to participate in class, but this quarter I found myself participating in some classes more than usual. The breakout rooms also create more interaction, since we’re assigned to random classmates, instead of whomever we’re sitting closest to in an in-person class—though I admit breakout rooms can sometimes be awkward.

Something that I find beneficial in both synchronous and asynchronous classes is that professors post a lecture recording that I can always refer to whenever I want. I found this especially helpful when I studied for my midterms this quarter; it’s nice to have a recording to look back upon in case I missed something during a lecture.

Overall, life during these times is substantially different from anything most of us have ever experienced, and at times it can be extremely overwhelming and stressful—especially in terms of school for me. Online classes don’t provide the same environment and interactions as in-person classes and are by far not as enjoyable. But at the end of the day, I know that in every circumstance there is always something to be thankful for, and I’m appreciative for my situation right now. While the world has slowed down and my stress has ramped up, I’m slowly beginning to adjust to it.

COVID-19: Where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going

One of the hardest things to deal with in this type of crisis is being able to go the distance. Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel

Where we're going

Living with covid-19, people & organizations, sustainable, inclusive growth, related collection.

The Next Normal: Emerging stronger from the coronavirus pandemic

My Quarantine Experience Essay & Paragraphs For Students

The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in an era of quarantine and social distancing, profoundly impacting our daily lives. This essay will delve into my personal experience during quarantine, highlighting the challenges, adaptations, and insights gleaned from this unique period.

Table of Contents

Essay On My Quarantine Experience

To comprehend my quarantine experience fully, it is important to understand what quarantine entails. It is a preventive measure aimed at curbing the spread of infectious diseases by isolating individuals who have been exposed to the infection. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, quarantine involved staying at home, minimizing physical contact with others and practicing strict hygiene protocols.

Initial Reactions: The Onset of Quarantine

The initial days of quarantine were marked by a mix of anxiety, uncertainty, and confusion as familiar routines were disrupted. This section will explore my initial reactions to the sudden shift in lifestyle, the challenges faced, and the coping mechanisms adopted.

Adapting to a New Normal: Life During Quarantine

Quarantine necessitated a significant adaptation to a “new normal”. From working from home to virtual social interactions, life underwent a dramatic transformation. This part will discuss the various adjustments made during quarantine, focusing on work, education, social interactions, and daily routines.

Discovering New Interests: The Silver Lining

Despite the challenges, quarantine also offered an opportunity to explore new interests and hobbies. With additional free time, I found myself engaging in activities like reading, cooking, online courses, and fitness routines at home. This section will delve into these newfound interests and their impact on my overall well-being.

Emotional Impact: Navigating Mental Health During Quarantine

Quarantine also had a significant impact on mental health. The isolation, coupled with the constant influx of pandemic-related news, led to feelings of stress and anxiety. This part will discuss the emotional impact of quarantine, the strategies employed to maintain mental health, and the significance of seeking help when required.

Lessons Learned: Insights from the Quarantine Experience

Quarantine, while challenging, also offered valuable insights into resilience, adaptability, and the importance of community. It highlighted the need for empathy, understanding, and collective responsibility during times of crisis. This section will reflect on these lessons and their implications for the future.

Conclusion: Reflecting on My Quarantine Experience

My quarantine experience was a journey of adaptation, self-discovery, and resilience. While it posed numerous challenges, it also offered an opportunity to slow down, introspect, and focus on personal growth. As I reflect on this period, I realize that despite the hardships, the experience has equipped me with a better understanding of myself, a greater appreciation for connection, and a renewed sense of resilience to navigate future challenges.

Hello! Welcome to my Blog StudyParagraphs.co. My name is Angelina. I am a college professor. I love reading writing for kids students. This blog is full with valuable knowledge for all class students. Thank you for reading my articles.

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I Thought We’d Learned Nothing From the Pandemic. I Wasn’t Seeing the Full Picture

M y first home had a back door that opened to a concrete patio with a giant crack down the middle. When my sister and I played, I made sure to stay on the same side of the divide as her, just in case. The 1988 film The Land Before Time was one of the first movies I ever saw, and the image of the earth splintering into pieces planted its roots in my brain. I believed that, even in my own backyard, I could easily become the tiny Triceratops separated from her family, on the other side of the chasm, as everything crumbled into chaos.

Some 30 years later, I marvel at the eerie, unexpected ways that cartoonish nightmare came to life – not just for me and my family, but for all of us. The landscape was already covered in fissures well before COVID-19 made its way across the planet, but the pandemic applied pressure, and the cracks broke wide open, separating us from each other physically and ideologically. Under the weight of the crisis, we scattered and landed on such different patches of earth we could barely see each other’s faces, even when we squinted. We disagreed viciously with each other, about how to respond, but also about what was true.

Recently, someone asked me if we’ve learned anything from the pandemic, and my first thought was a flat no. Nothing. There was a time when I thought it would be the very thing to draw us together and catapult us – as a capital “S” Society – into a kinder future. It’s surreal to remember those early days when people rallied together, sewing masks for health care workers during critical shortages and gathering on balconies in cities from Dallas to New York City to clap and sing songs like “Yellow Submarine.” It felt like a giant lightning bolt shot across the sky, and for one breath, we all saw something that had been hidden in the dark – the inherent vulnerability in being human or maybe our inescapable connectedness .

More from TIME

Read More: The Family Time the Pandemic Stole

But it turns out, it was just a flash. The goodwill vanished as quickly as it appeared. A couple of years later, people feel lied to, abandoned, and all on their own. I’ve felt my own curiosity shrinking, my willingness to reach out waning , my ability to keep my hands open dwindling. I look out across the landscape and see selfishness and rage, burnt earth and so many dead bodies. Game over. We lost. And if we’ve already lost, why try?

Still, the question kept nagging me. I wondered, am I seeing the full picture? What happens when we focus not on the collective society but at one face, one story at a time? I’m not asking for a bow to minimize the suffering – a pretty flourish to put on top and make the whole thing “worth it.” Yuck. That’s not what we need. But I wondered about deep, quiet growth. The kind we feel in our bodies, relationships, homes, places of work, neighborhoods.

Like a walkie-talkie message sent to my allies on the ground, I posted a call on my Instagram. What do you see? What do you hear? What feels possible? Is there life out here? Sprouting up among the rubble? I heard human voices calling back – reports of life, personal and specific. I heard one story at a time – stories of grief and distrust, fury and disappointment. Also gratitude. Discovery. Determination.

Among the most prevalent were the stories of self-revelation. Almost as if machines were given the chance to live as humans, people described blossoming into fuller selves. They listened to their bodies’ cues, recognized their desires and comforts, tuned into their gut instincts, and honored the intuition they hadn’t realized belonged to them. Alex, a writer and fellow disabled parent, found the freedom to explore a fuller version of herself in the privacy the pandemic provided. “The way I dress, the way I love, and the way I carry myself have both shrunk and expanded,” she shared. “I don’t love myself very well with an audience.” Without the daily ritual of trying to pass as “normal” in public, Tamar, a queer mom in the Netherlands, realized she’s autistic. “I think the pandemic helped me to recognize the mask,” she wrote. “Not that unmasking is easy now. But at least I know it’s there.” In a time of widespread suffering that none of us could solve on our own, many tended to our internal wounds and misalignments, large and small, and found clarity.

Read More: A Tool for Staying Grounded in This Era of Constant Uncertainty

I wonder if this flourishing of self-awareness is at least partially responsible for the life alterations people pursued. The pandemic broke open our personal notions of work and pushed us to reevaluate things like time and money. Lucy, a disabled writer in the U.K., made the hard decision to leave her job as a journalist covering Westminster to write freelance about her beloved disability community. “This work feels important in a way nothing else has ever felt,” she wrote. “I don’t think I’d have realized this was what I should be doing without the pandemic.” And she wasn’t alone – many people changed jobs , moved, learned new skills and hobbies, became politically engaged.

Perhaps more than any other shifts, people described a significant reassessment of their relationships. They set boundaries, said no, had challenging conversations. They also reconnected, fell in love, and learned to trust. Jeanne, a quilter in Indiana, got to know relatives she wouldn’t have connected with if lockdowns hadn’t prompted weekly family Zooms. “We are all over the map as regards to our belief systems,” she emphasized, “but it is possible to love people you don’t see eye to eye with on every issue.” Anna, an anti-violence advocate in Maine, learned she could trust her new marriage: “Life was not a honeymoon. But we still chose to turn to each other with kindness and curiosity.” So many bonds forged and broken, strengthened and strained.

Instead of relying on default relationships or institutional structures, widespread recalibrations allowed for going off script and fortifying smaller communities. Mara from Idyllwild, Calif., described the tangible plan for care enacted in her town. “We started a mutual-aid group at the beginning of the pandemic,” she wrote, “and it grew so quickly before we knew it we were feeding 400 of the 4000 residents.” She didn’t pretend the conditions were ideal. In fact, she expressed immense frustration with our collective response to the pandemic. Even so, the local group rallied and continues to offer assistance to their community with help from donations and volunteers (many of whom were originally on the receiving end of support). “I’ve learned that people thrive when they feel their connection to others,” she wrote. Clare, a teacher from the U.K., voiced similar conviction as she described a giant scarf she’s woven out of ribbons, each representing a single person. The scarf is “a collection of stories, moments and wisdom we are sharing with each other,” she wrote. It now stretches well over 1,000 feet.

A few hours into reading the comments, I lay back on my bed, phone held against my chest. The room was quiet, but my internal world was lighting up with firefly flickers. What felt different? Surely part of it was receiving personal accounts of deep-rooted growth. And also, there was something to the mere act of asking and listening. Maybe it connected me to humans before battle cries. Maybe it was the chance to be in conversation with others who were also trying to understand – what is happening to us? Underneath it all, an undeniable thread remained; I saw people peering into the mess and narrating their findings onto the shared frequency. Every comment was like a flare into the sky. I’m here! And if the sky is full of flares, we aren’t alone.

I recognized my own pandemic discoveries – some minor, others massive. Like washing off thick eyeliner and mascara every night is more effort than it’s worth; I can transform the mundane into the magical with a bedsheet, a movie projector, and twinkle lights; my paralyzed body can mother an infant in ways I’d never seen modeled for me. I remembered disappointing, bewildering conversations within my own family of origin and our imperfect attempts to remain close while also seeing things so differently. I realized that every time I get the weekly invite to my virtual “Find the Mumsies” call, with a tiny group of moms living hundreds of miles apart, I’m being welcomed into a pocket of unexpected community. Even though we’ve never been in one room all together, I’ve felt an uncommon kind of solace in their now-familiar faces.

Hope is a slippery thing. I desperately want to hold onto it, but everywhere I look there are real, weighty reasons to despair. The pandemic marks a stretch on the timeline that tangles with a teetering democracy, a deteriorating planet , the loss of human rights that once felt unshakable . When the world is falling apart Land Before Time style, it can feel trite, sniffing out the beauty – useless, firing off flares to anyone looking for signs of life. But, while I’m under no delusions that if we just keep trudging forward we’ll find our own oasis of waterfalls and grassy meadows glistening in the sunshine beneath a heavenly chorus, I wonder if trivializing small acts of beauty, connection, and hope actually cuts us off from resources essential to our survival. The group of abandoned dinosaurs were keeping each other alive and making each other laugh well before they made it to their fantasy ending.

Read More: How Ice Cream Became My Own Personal Act of Resistance

After the monarch butterfly went on the endangered-species list, my friend and fellow writer Hannah Soyer sent me wildflower seeds to plant in my yard. A simple act of big hope – that I will actually plant them, that they will grow, that a monarch butterfly will receive nourishment from whatever blossoms are able to push their way through the dirt. There are so many ways that could fail. But maybe the outcome wasn’t exactly the point. Maybe hope is the dogged insistence – the stubborn defiance – to continue cultivating moments of beauty regardless. There is value in the planting apart from the harvest.

I can’t point out a single collective lesson from the pandemic. It’s hard to see any great “we.” Still, I see the faces in my moms’ group, making pancakes for their kids and popping on between strings of meetings while we try to figure out how to raise these small people in this chaotic world. I think of my friends on Instagram tending to the selves they discovered when no one was watching and the scarf of ribbons stretching the length of more than three football fields. I remember my family of three, holding hands on the way up the ramp to the library. These bits of growth and rings of support might not be loud or right on the surface, but that’s not the same thing as nothing. If we only cared about the bottom-line defeats or sweeping successes of the big picture, we’d never plant flowers at all.

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Seven short essays about life during the pandemic

The boston book festival's at home community writing project invites area residents to describe their experiences during this unprecedented time..

My alarm sounds at 8:15 a.m. I open my eyes and take a deep breath. I wiggle my toes and move my legs. I do this religiously every morning. Today, marks day 74 of staying at home.

My mornings are filled with reading biblical scripture, meditation, breathing in the scents of a hanging eucalyptus branch in the shower, and making tea before I log into my computer to work. After an hour-and-a-half Zoom meeting, I decided to take a long walk to the post office and grab a fresh bouquet of burnt orange ranunculus flowers. I embrace the warm sun beaming on my face. I feel joy. I feel at peace.

I enter my apartment and excessively wash my hands and face. I pour a glass of iced kombucha. I sit at my table and look at the text message on my phone. My coworker writes that she is thinking of me during this difficult time. She must be referring to the Amy Cooper incident. I learn shortly that she is not.

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I Google Minneapolis and see his name: George Floyd. And just like that a simple and beautiful day transitions into a day of sorrow.

Nakia Hill, Boston

It was a wobbly, yet solemn little procession: three masked mourners and a canine. Beginning in Kenmore Square, at David and Sue Horner’s condo, it proceeded up Commonwealth Avenue Mall.

S. Sue Horner died on Good Friday, April 10, in the Year of the Virus. Sue did not die of the virus but her parting was hemmed by it: no gatherings to mark the passing of this splendid human being.

David devised a send-off nevertheless. On April 23rd, accompanied by his daughter and son-in-law, he set out for Old South Church. David led, bearing the urn. His daughter came next, holding her phone aloft, speaker on, through which her brother in Illinois played the bagpipes for the length of the procession, its soaring thrum infusing the Mall. Her husband came last with Melon, their golden retriever.

I unlocked the empty church and led the procession into the columbarium. David drew the urn from its velvet cover, revealing a golden vessel inset with incandescent tiles. We lifted the urn into the niche, prayed, recited Psalm 23, and shared some words.

It was far too small for the luminous “Dr. Sue”, but what we could manage in the Year of the Virus.

Nancy S. Taylor, Boston

On April 26, 2020, our household was a bustling home for four people. Our two sons, ages 18 and 22, have a lot of energy. We are among the lucky ones. I can work remotely. Our food and shelter are not at risk.

As I write this a week later, it is much quieter here.

On April 27, our older son, an EMT, transported a COVID-19 patient to the ER. He left home to protect my delicate health and became ill with the virus a week later.

On April 29, my husband’s 95-year-old father had a stroke. My husband left immediately to be with his 90-year-old mother near New York City and is now preparing for his father’s discharge from the hospital. Rehab people will come to the house; going to a facility would be too dangerous.

My husband just called me to describe today’s hospital visit. The doctors had warned that although his father had regained the ability to speak, he could only repeat what was said to him.

“It’s me,” said my husband.

“It’s me,” said my father-in-law.

“I love you,” said my husband.

“I love you,” said my father-in-law.

“Sooooooooo much,” said my father-in-law.

Lucia Thompson, Wayland

Would racism exist if we were blind?

I felt his eyes bore into me as I walked through the grocery store. At first, I thought nothing of it. With the angst in the air attributable to COVID, I understood the anxiety-provoking nature of feeling as though your 6-foot bubble had burst. So, I ignored him and maintained my distance. But he persisted, glaring at my face, squinting to see who I was underneath the mask. This time I looked back, when he yelled, in my mother tongue, for me to go back to my country.

In shock, I just laughed. How could he tell what I was under my mask? Or see anything through the sunglasses he was wearing inside? It baffled me. I laughed at the irony that he would use my own language against me, that he knew enough to guess where I was from in some version of culturally competent racism. I laughed because dealing with the truth behind that comment generated a sadness in me that was too much to handle. If not now, then when will we be together?

So I ask again, would racism exist if we were blind?

Faizah Shareef, Boston

My Family is “Out” There

But I am “in” here. Life is different now “in” Assisted Living since the deadly COVID-19 arrived. Now the staff, employees, and all 100 residents have our temperatures taken daily. Everyone else, including my family, is “out” there. People like the hairdresser are really missed — with long straight hair and masks, we don’t even recognize ourselves.

Since mid-March we are in quarantine “in” our rooms with meals served. Activities are practically non-existent. We can sit on the back patio 6 feet apart, wearing masks, do exercises there, chat, and walk nearby. Nothing inside. Hopefully June will improve.

My family is “out” there — somewhere! Most are working from home (or Montana). Hopefully an August wedding will happen, but unfortunately, I may still be “in” here.

From my window I wave to my son “out” there. Recently, when my daughter visited, I opened the window “in” my second-floor room and could see and hear her perfectly “out” there. Next time she will bring a chair so we can have an “in” and “out” conversation all day, or until we run out of words.

Barbara Anderson, Raynham

My boyfriend Marcial lives in Boston, and I live in New York City. We had been doing the long-distance thing pretty successfully until coronavirus hit. In mid-March, I was furloughed from my temp job, Marcial began working remotely, and New York started shutting down. I went to Boston to stay with Marcial.

We are opposites in many ways, but we share a love of food. The kitchen has been the center of quarantine life —and also quarantine problems.

Marcial and I have gone from eating out and cooking/grocery shopping for each other during our periodic visits to cooking/grocery shopping with each other all the time. We’ve argued over things like the proper way to make rice and what greens to buy for salad. Our habits are deeply rooted in our upbringing and individual cultures (Filipino immigrant and American-born Chinese, hence the strong rice opinions).

On top of the mundane issues, we’ve also dealt with a flooded kitchen (resulting in cockroaches) and a mandoline accident leading to an ER visit. Marcial and I have spent quarantine navigating how to handle the unexpected and how to integrate our lifestyles. We’ve been eating well along the way.

Melissa Lee, Waltham

It’s 3 a.m. and my dog Rikki just gave me a worried look. Up again?

“I can’t sleep,” I say. I flick the light, pick up “Non-Zero Probabilities.” But the words lay pinned to the page like swatted flies. I watch new “Killing Eve” episodes, play old Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats songs. Still night.

We are — what? — 12 agitated weeks into lockdown, and now this. The thing that got me was Chauvin’s sunglasses. Perched nonchalantly on his head, undisturbed, as if he were at a backyard BBQ. Or anywhere other than kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, on his life. And Floyd was a father, as we all now know, having seen his daughter Gianna on Stephen Jackson’s shoulders saying “Daddy changed the world.”

Precious child. I pray, safeguard her.

Rikki has her own bed. But she won’t leave me. A Goddess of Protection. She does that thing dogs do, hovers increasingly closely the more agitated I get. “I’m losing it,” I say. I know. And like those weighted gravity blankets meant to encourage sleep, she drapes her 70 pounds over me, covering my restless heart with safety.

As if daybreak, or a prayer, could bring peace today.

Kirstan Barnett, Watertown

Until June 30, send your essay (200 words or less) about life during COVID-19 via bostonbookfest.org . Some essays will be published on the festival’s blog and some will appear in The Boston Globe.

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Community Reflections

My life experience during the covid-19 pandemic.

Melissa Blanco Follow

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Undergraduate, Class of 2024

My content explains what my life was like during the last seven months of the Covid-19 pandemic and how it affected my life both positively and negatively. It also explains what it was like when I graduated from High School and how I want the future generations to remember the Class of 2020.

Class assignment, Western Civilization (Dr. Marino).

Recommended Citation

Blanco, Melissa, "My Life Experience During the Covid-19 Pandemic" (2020). Community Reflections . 21. https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/covid19-reflections/21

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Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Covid 19 — My Experience during the COVID-19 Pandemic

My Experience During The Covid-19 Pandemic

• Categories: Covid 19

About this sample

Words: 440 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 440 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, physical impact, mental and emotional impact, social impact.

• World Health Organization. (2021). Coronavirus (COVID-19) Dashboard. https://covid19.who.int/
• American Psychiatric Association. (2020). Mental health and COVID-19. https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/apa-blog/2020/03/mental-health-and-covid-19
• The New York Times. (2020). Coping with Coronavirus Anxiety. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/well/family/coronavirus-anxiety-mental-health.html

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Two Years In: How the Pandemic Changed Our Lives

From remote work to major life developments, the COVID-19 era left its mark on Duke staff and faculty

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Two years ago this week, the novel coronavirus fully took hold in the United States. While it had been in the country earlier, the second week of March 2020 was when cases spiked, and soon after, Duke University President Vincent E. Price announced in an “urgent message” that faculty and staff who could work from home should do so. 

Masking and social distancing policies became the norm while businesses, schools and offices went quiet.

As some  safety measures ease , COVID-19 has infected nearly 80 million Americans and left nearly 970,000 dead. As the pandemic raged with variants, education, research and health care continued across Duke University and Duke University Health System at a high level. 

And many of us are forever changed.

“I think we, as a people, are different,” said Duke Associate Professor of Medicine Jon Bae, a co-convener for the mental and emotional well-being portion of Healthy Duke. “In the last two years, people have learned different ways of working, different ways of living and different ways to take appreciation for things.”

Jon Boylan is one of those. 

The past two years have drawn Boylan closer to his wife, Katie, a steadying influence during uncertain times. But starting a family against the backdrop of a global pandemic has given him a deeper respect for how forces outside of our control can alter plans.

“I wasn’t one of those people who had time to learn how to bake bread or anything,” Boylan said. “But I think in terms of personal growth, a lot happened.”

We caught up with some Duke colleagues to hear how their lives are different two years into the pandemic.

Committing to Self-Care

“For me, I thought, ‘How do I have a rich, full life amid all of this and keep a positive attitude?’” Thomas said.

She decided that she needed a goal that she could work toward until the world opened up. Already with a long list of outdoors adventures under her belt, Thomas decided to plan a summer 2021 trip to Nepal to hike the summit of the 21,247-foot Mera Peak.

For the next several months, Thomas began running, working out at a socially distanced gym, and incorporating as many walks as possible into her day. While the trip to Nepal was the goal, the exercise to prepare for it became a central piece of her self-care routine.

“I just love being outside, it’s very restorative,” Thomas said. “And I like physical challenges, I get the rush of endorphins from that. So putting those two things together just helps me out mentally. Even just a short walk can help me focus.”

Eventually, travel complications required Thomas to postpone the trip to Nepal. Instead, she flew to Spain and, over three weeks in September and October of 2021, she hiked 335 miles on the Camino de Santiago pilgrim trail.

“It was basically like a walking meditation for three weeks,” said Thomas, who is now exercising with an eye toward a 2023 Nepal trip. “It’s really an incredible experience.”

Defining Your Purpose

But she said COVID-19 tested everyone’s resolve.

“You just don’t know how you’re going to react to something until you’re in it,” Casey said.

In March 2020, Casey was the clinical team lead for Duke Raleigh’s ICU, a managerial role with less hands-on patient care. But it wasn’t far into the pandemic before Casey’s desire to help patients led her to return to a clinical nurse role.

There, she saw the virus’ danger up close. At one point in the summer of 2020, 13 of the 15 beds in the ICU were occupied by COVID-19 patients on ventilators. With no visitors allowed for COVID-19 patients, Casey witnessed several wrenching goodbyes said over cellphone.

Her challenges didn’t end when she left work. With four children and a husband who’s a police officer in Durham, at home, Casey faced stress from home schooling and a spouse also on COVID-19’s front lines.

While many ICU nurses ask to be transferred to different units due to the emotional strain, Casey was inspired by seeing colleagues bravely push forward, giving comfort and dignity to patients facing dire situations. She also said that, as the pandemic wore on, the bond between ICU nurses grew stronger. 

As hard as these past two years have been, Casey, who still serves in the ICU and recently began working toward an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner certificate through the Duke University School of Nursing , said the pandemic experience has only deepened her connection to her work.

“We all faced this as a challenge, personally, emotionally and professionally, and hopefully learned to grow through it and be better if this ever happens again,” Casey said.

Taking Charge of Physical Health

After the pandemic required many Duke staff and faculty members to work remotely , sending Carbuccia from working in the bustling Smith Warehouse to his Mebane home, the IT Analyst with  Duke’s Office of Information Technology  found himself making healthier choices without even thinking. 

Instead of eating lunch out or grabbing meals from events in his on-campus workspace, Carbuccia found himself eating homemade breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Scrambled eggs with vegetables, or simply prepared salmon filets are some of current favorites.

And without a commute, he has time for walks around his neighborhood before and after work.

Carbuccia saw the result of these changes a few months into the pandemic when he stepped on the scale and saw that he’d lost 26 pounds.

“When I stepped on the scale, I said, ‘Holy Moses! I lost a lot of weight, and I wasn’t even planning to!’” Carbuccia said.

A Better Mental Space

And each day also involved a roughly 30-minute commute along I-85 to her home in Graham, where the heavy traffic made her feel especially anxious, leaving her tense when she arrived at work or home.

But the past two years saw her work go fully remote, and now a move to a hybrid arrangement featuring one day of on-site each week. She cherishes the time she can spend working from home, often with her two dogs – Marx, a Boston Terrier, and Duke, a rescue – lounging at her feet.

“Working at home, I feel like my mental health is in a better place,” said Herrera, a wife and mother of three.

Herrera isn’t alone in her appreciation of remote work.  According to a Pew Research Center  report  from February 2022, approximately six in 10 workers who can do their jobs from home are working remotely most or all of the time.  

Herrera said her hybrid schedule leaves her feeling mentally fresh when she begins her workday and better able to transition between work and personal life. 

“I’m happier,” Herrera said. “I’m more at ease.”

Learning on the Fly

“Even though some of us had experience working remotely, it was still new,” said Roberts, who’s worked at Duke for nearly a decade. “Regardless of how much experience you had, I don’t think we were mentally or technologically ready for that quick of a transition.”

Roberts recalls PRMO leaders moving quickly to get desktops, monitors, laptops, cameras and headsets in the hands of team members. She also recalls many of her colleagues working diligently to familiarize themselves with new tools and programs, such as the collaboration platform Jabber, that were different from what was used in the PRMO offices on South Alston Avenue in Durham. 

Roberts and her colleagues also had to learn how to collaborate with one another when communication came by email and chat messages instead of a quick face-to-face conversation.

Working each day from her home in Franklinton, Roberts continues to help Duke Health patients with billing concerns. She’s part of a large team that gelled amid the pandemic and kept the pace of customer support high.

With PRMO keeping colleagues connected with department meetings and team-building Zoom events, Roberts said these past two years have given her a new appreciation of the resilience of her colleagues.

“It made me proud because nobody skipped a beat,” Roberts said. “Everybody took accountability. While some of our thinking and the logic behind how we normally do things had to change, I’m proud that it was still a really seamless transition for us.”

Finding Flexibility

“This is something that would have never happened before the pandemic,” said Atkinson, a regulatory coordinator with the  Duke Department of Surgery .

Like many administrators in Duke’s research areas, Atkinson has been working fully remote since the pandemic began, trading in her fourth-floor workspace in Erwin Terrace for a spot at home. The change reshaped Atkinson’s day-to-day routine in a drastic way, ridding her of a commute that ate up two hours each day.

Now, with more time to spend with her son, West, born before the pandemic, and her 10-month-old daughter, Iris, Atkinson, who has worked for Duke for nearly seven years, has the flexibility that allows her to feel rooted. And with more balance, she hopes to let the roots of her family, as well as the cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers that will be in the ground soon, grow strong.

“I’ve attempted a very small garden each year, but we have a very shady lot,” Atkinson said. “But this year, we’re putting it in the front, where we get a lot of sun, and West is helping me, so it’s going to work.”

A World of Change

In late 2019, she met Neil Gallagher at a party and hit it off. The pair dated for the next few months and, when the pandemic forced everyone to limit contact with others, they decided to keep each other in their quarantine bubble.

“It was one of those easy connections where we were really comfortable with each other,” said Meyer, who shared the  story of her mental health journey  with Working@Duke just before the coronavirus outbreak.

Over the next several months, the pair grew closer and, by the end of 2020, they’d begun talking about getting engaged and starting a family. Those plans hit warp speed when they found out Meyer was pregnant in early 2021. Not long after, they were engaged and later married in a small ceremony in Raleigh in July of last year.

And over a few hectic days in early October, the pair closed on a house together in Raleigh and Meyer gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Maggie.

Now in a very different spot in life from where she was when the pandemic began, Meyer said she greets each day with a new feeling of purpose and strong sense of gratitude.

“I think my husband and I have been keenly aware of how odd it’s been and how many blessing we’ve had at a time when life has been really hard for a lot of people,” Meyer said.

How has the pandemic changed your life? Send us your story and photographs through  our story idea form  or write  [email protected] .

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Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic Essay

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The COVID-19 outbreak was a sudden and terrifying experience for all people around the world. I remember telling my friends that the virus would not last for a long time and that we would all meet after two weeks of self-isolation. I did not know how far it would go and what changes to my life it would bring. Sitting at home and watching the news about millions of infected and fatal cases made me realize how fragile human life is. The pandemic has both positive and negative effects on people and their businesses. This paper addresses these effects and provides my experience of the COVID-19 healthcare crisis.

The virus that is still ongoing has taught a valuable thing for all of us that is being able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances. You will never know what is waiting for you in the future, and you should be flexible and calm enough to embrace the new reality. At the beginning of the pandemic, it was fun to sit at home, watch TV series and chat with my friends. Yet, after some time, I realized how my mental health was going downwards as I started to feel anxiety about the world and my future. I also felt very sorry for people who lost their close ones because of COVID. However, I somehow managed that stress due to mental health support, podcasts, and books. I realized that being able to adapt to a changing reality is the only way to keep doing daily routines. At a country level, countries were also adapting and making new policies, and I think now many political figures are more flexible being aware of sudden changes. There were too many mistakes to realize the importance of effective and fast decisions that take into account today’s reality.

One more positive thing about the pandemic is that people learned the value of family and socialization. People cannot live alone, and they need someone to rely on and care for. During the pandemic, I was with my family, and I think it was the first time interacting with them so closely. We were discussing the situation and sharing personal concerns a lot, so that I could understand my family more and support them. I was also worried about older members of the family, thinking that I did not appreciate time with them before the pandemic. It made me reconsider my family relations and understand that they are my close ones, and I should dedicate my time to them more. I assume this was a great lesson for everyone, and I hope people would value their families and take care of them.

One of the crucial changes that the COVID-19 outbreak brought to us is online education. I did not know how to assess such kind of education as positive or negative as there are many arguments for each side. Personally, I liked the online mode of the studies because I could also register for other courses provided for free by different universities and platforms like Coursera. I also learned how to manage time properly as the increased number of assignments forced me to do so. Yet, many students did not like online education as we could not focus well on our studies. People live in different conditions, some of us did not have personal space for studying while others did not have time for education. Education is indeed a privilege, but the online mode made it even worse. Moreover, I heard that in some countries, students climbed on trees to have access to the Internet and do their homework.

The COVID-19 crisis increased inequality across the world and had a negative impact on the world economy. People in developing countries did not have proper healthcare services and tools for online mode of working and studying. Many people lost their jobs, being unable to sustain their families. Such conditions raised crime rates, unemployment rates, and global hunger, putting many countries in a hard socio-economic situation. Furthermore, the virus split people into two categories of supporters of vaccination and those who are against it. This division between people caused social disturbances that made the healthcare crisis turn into an ideological fight. People were making up some stories regarding the COVID-19 and not contributing to the solution of the outbreak. In my opinion, such a response of the public is expected as the general mass wanted answers that government officials did not have. As such, the government should be very careful on how to communicate with citizens.

Overall, there is much to say about the effects of Covdi-19. For me, it was an experience of taking care of my mental health and being close to my family. For the world, it has resulted in disrupted economies, increased inequality, and loss of lives. I hope the crisis made people rethink their lives and be supportive of others. I also believe that the world would not be the same after the end of COVID-19 if it actually has an end.

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IvyPanda. (2023, January 3). Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-experience-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/

"Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic." IvyPanda , 3 Jan. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/personal-experience-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic'. 3 January.

IvyPanda . 2023. "Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic." January 3, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-experience-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

1. IvyPanda . "Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic." January 3, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-experience-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Personal Experience of the COVID-19 Pandemic." January 3, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/personal-experience-of-the-covid-19-pandemic/.

What Life Was Like for Students in the Pandemic Year

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In this video, Navajo student Miles Johnson shares how he experienced the stress and anxiety of schools shutting down last year. Miles’ teacher shared his experience and those of her other students in a recent piece for Education Week. In these short essays below, teacher Claire Marie Grogan’s 11th grade students at Oceanside High School on Long Island, N.Y., describe their pandemic experiences. Their writings have been slightly edited for clarity. Read Grogan’s essay .

“Hours Staring at Tiny Boxes on the Screen”

By Kimberly Polacco, 16

I stare at my blank computer screen, trying to find the motivation to turn it on, but my finger flinches every time it hovers near the button. I instead open my curtains. It is raining outside, but it does not matter, I will not be going out there for the rest of the day. The sound of pounding raindrops contributes to my headache enough to make me turn on my computer in hopes that it will give me something to drown out the noise. But as soon as I open it up, I feel the weight of the world crash upon my shoulders.

Each 42-minute period drags on by. I spend hours upon hours staring at tiny boxes on a screen, one of which my exhausted face occupies, and attempt to retain concepts that have been presented to me through this device. By the time I have the freedom of pressing the “leave” button on my last Google Meet of the day, my eyes are heavy and my legs feel like mush from having not left my bed since I woke up.

Tomorrow arrives, except this time here I am inside of a school building, interacting with my first period teacher face to face. We talk about our favorite movies and TV shows to stream as other kids pile into the classroom. With each passing period I accumulate more and more of these tiny meaningless conversations everywhere I go with both teachers and students. They may not seem like much, but to me they are everything because I know that the next time I am expected to report to school, I will be trapped in the bubble of my room counting down the hours until I can sit down in my freshly sanitized wooden desk again.

“My Only Parent Essentially on Her Death Bed”

By Nick Ingargiola, 16

My mom had COVID-19 for ten weeks. She got sick during the first month school buildings were shut. The difficulty of navigating an online classroom was already overwhelming, and when mixed with my only parent essentially on her death bed, it made it unbearable. Focusing on schoolwork was impossible, and watching my mother struggle to lift up her arm broke my heart.

My mom has been through her fair share of diseases from pancreatic cancer to seizures and even as far as a stroke that paralyzed her entire left side. It is safe to say she has been through a lot. The craziest part is you would never know it. She is the strongest and most positive person I’ve ever met. COVID hit her hard. Although I have watched her go through life and death multiple times, I have never seen her so physically and mentally drained.

I initially was overjoyed to complete my school year in the comfort of my own home, but once my mom got sick, I couldn’t handle it. No one knows what it’s like to pretend like everything is OK until they are forced to. I would wake up at 8 after staying up until 5 in the morning pondering the possibility of losing my mother. She was all I had. I was forced to turn my camera on and float in the fake reality of being fine although I wasn’t. The teachers tried to keep the class engaged by obligating the students to participate. This was dreadful. I didn’t want to talk. I had to hide the distress in my voice. If only the teachers understood what I was going through. I was hesitant because I didn’t want everyone to know that the virus that was infecting and killing millions was knocking on my front door.

After my online classes, I was required to finish an immense amount of homework while simultaneously hiding my sadness so that my mom wouldn’t worry about me. She was already going through a lot. There was no reason to add me to her list of worries. I wasn’t even able to give her a hug. All I could do was watch.

“The Way of Staying Sane”

By Lynda Feustel, 16

Entering year two of the pandemic is strange. It barely seems a day since last March, but it also seems like a lifetime. As an only child and introvert, shutting down my world was initially simple and relatively easy. My friends and I had been super busy with the school play, and while I was sad about it being canceled, I was struggling a lot during that show and desperately needed some time off.

As March turned to April, virtual school began, and being alone really set in. I missed my friends and us being together. The isolation felt real with just my parents and me, even as we spent time together. My friends and I began meeting on Facetime every night to watch TV and just be together in some way. We laughed at insane jokes we made and had homework and therapy sessions over Facetime and grew closer through digital and literal walls.

The summer passed with in-person events together, and the virus faded into the background for a little while. We went to the track and the beach and hung out in people’s backyards.

Then school came for us in a more nasty way than usual. In hybrid school we were separated. People had jobs, sports, activities, and quarantines. Teachers piled on work, and the virus grew more present again. The group text put out hundreds of messages a day while the Facetimes came to a grinding halt, and meeting in person as a group became more of a rarity. Being together on video and in person was the way of staying sane.

In a way I am in a similar place to last year, working and looking for some change as we enter the second year of this mess.

“In History Class, Reports of Heightening Cases”

By Vivian Rose, 16

I remember the moment my freshman year English teacher told me about the young writers’ conference at Bread Loaf during my sophomore year. At first, I didn’t want to apply, the deadline had passed, but for some strange reason, the directors of the program extended it another week. It felt like it was meant to be. It was in Vermont in the last week of May when the flowers have awakened and the sun is warm.

I submitted my work, and two weeks later I got an email of my acceptance. I screamed at the top of my lungs in the empty house; everyone was out, so I was left alone to celebrate my small victory. It was rare for them to admit sophomores. Usually they accept submissions only from juniors and seniors.

That was the first week of February 2020. All of a sudden, there was some talk about this strange virus coming from China. We thought nothing of it. Every night, I would fall asleep smiling, knowing that I would be able to go to the exact conference that Robert Frost attended for 42 years.

Then, as if overnight, it seemed the virus had swung its hand and had gripped parts of the country. Every newscast was about the disease. Every day in history, we would look at the reports of heightening cases and joke around that this could never become a threat as big as Dr. Fauci was proposing. Then, March 13th came around--it was the last day before the world seemed to shut down. Just like that, Bread Loaf would vanish from my grasp.

“One Day Every Day Won’t Be As Terrible”

By Nick Wollweber, 17

COVID created personal problems for everyone, some more serious than others, but everyone had a struggle.

As the COVID lock-down took hold, the main thing weighing on my mind was my oldest brother, Joe, who passed away in January 2019 unexpectedly in his sleep. Losing my brother was a complete gut punch and reality check for me at 14 and 15 years old. 2019 was a year of struggle, darkness, sadness, frustration. I didn’t want to learn after my brother had passed, but I had to in order to move forward and find my new normal.

Routine and always having things to do and places to go is what let me cope in the year after Joe died. Then COVID came and gave me the option to let up and let down my guard. I struggled with not wanting to take care of personal hygiene. That was the beginning of an underlying mental problem where I wouldn’t do things that were necessary for everyday life.

My “coping routine” that got me through every day and week the year before was gone. COVID wasn’t beneficial to me, but it did bring out the true nature of my mental struggles and put a name to it. Since COVID, I have been diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety. I began taking antidepressants and going to therapy a lot more.

COVID made me realize that I’m not happy with who I am and that I needed to change. I’m still not happy with who I am. I struggle every day, but I am working towards a goal that one day every day won’t be as terrible.

Coverage of social and emotional learning is supported in part by a grant from the NoVo Foundation, at www.novofoundation.org . Education Week retains sole editorial control over the content of this coverage. A version of this article appeared in the March 31, 2021 edition of Education Week as What Life Was Like for Students in the Pandemic Year

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• Future Perfect

Quarantine has changed us — and it’s not all bad

Here are 8 new habits people want to keep post-lockdown.

by Sigal Samuel

Cities are reopening. Lockdowns are lifting. And some people are starting to feel they can glimpse a return, however slow and partial, to “normal.”

But the pandemic has changed us. Although being on lockdown has been pretty grueling on balance, the surprise is that many of us have realized there are some things about quarantine life that are worth preserving. We’re questioning the very fundamentals of the “normal” we’d all come to unthinkingly accept — and realizing we don’t want to go back, not to that.

For some, going back isn’t even an option. Those who are grieving the loss of loved ones, for example, have suffered a tragic and irrevocable loss. Millions who’ve lost their jobs don’t have any work to go back to, and many essential workers have been working through the pandemic without much choice. Older and immunocompromised people are still advised to stay home.

At the same time, living in quarantine for months has offered some — mostly the privileged among us — a rare opportunity to reflect on our lives and, potentially, to reset them.

Workers whose jobs defined their lives are now asking what all that productivity was for , and whether we really want to measure our self-worth by the yardstick of hypercompetitive capitalism. Many are finding that the things that made them look “successful” actually also made them feel miserable , or precarious , or physically unwell .

Quarantine has allowed them to experiment with new habits and new lifestyles. And they want to keep some of these things going, even in a post-lockdown world.

I asked Vox readers to tell me which specific changes they want to maintain as they emerge from quarantine and stumble their way to a new normal. More than 100 people responded across the globe, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates and from Portugal to Pakistan. Some broad trends leaped out in the responses. Below are the eight most common.

1) Reducing consumerism

This was by far the most popular response. Many told me they want to spend less money shopping for new material goods like gadgets and clothes. A long period of being shut in and not spending as much has led to the realization that so much of our consumer behavior is about instant gratification, not lasting happiness.

Several people also noted that they plan to eat out less often at restaurants. Eating in during the lockdown has enabled them to save money, and some have discovered a taste for home-cooked meals.

A few said they’ll look to “mend and make do” more often. In situations where that’s not possible and they’ll have to buy something new, respondents told me they want to be more mindful of where they spend their money.

“I think I will be more inclined to direct my consumption toward small local businesses,” said Nora Zeid, a 23-year-old illustrator and designer in the United Arab Emirates. “It breaks my heart how much they have suffered lately and how, unlike big corporations, they are less likely to survive.”

2) Slowing down and putting less pressure on ourselves

Being stuck in our houses has made many of us realize that we’ve spent years rushing through life, pressuring ourselves to get the “right” jobs and attend the “right” events, even if all that status-chasing was making us miserable.

“Quarantine has forced me to slow down in ways I haven’t since I was a kid. From high school and college, through my 20s and a master’s program, I have been on the go constantly for half my life. I always said I was one who liked to be busy, but the last two months of forced slowdown has really called on me to think about what I want my life to look like moving forward,” said one Vox reader in the US who preferred to remain anonymous. “I’m trying to figure out what it would look like to intentionally build in space in my life to breathe, reflect, and focus on the most important aspects of life — the people around you who make it all worth it.”

Some younger respondents told me they want to put less career pressure on themselves because they now realize work is not what matters most in life. A couple of older adults told me they’d been considering retiring before Covid-19 came around; the pandemic pushed them to finally do it. And even for some who were already retired, the slower pace of life created by the lockdown has come as a relief.

Post-pandemic, the goal will be to “not fill every waking moment with a commitment of some kind,” said Patricia Murray, who lives in Savannah, Georgia. “Even retired persons, like myself, need leisure time. I seem to work as much as a volunteer as I did in paid jobs; slowing down is the biggest change I’ve made and it feels good.”

Again, it’s worth noting that the ability to slow down entails a great deal of privilege. Millions who’ve been pushed out of the workforce wish they could be working more, not less. And some older and immunocompromised people have had to go back to work, even if they don’t feel safe doing so yet, because they need the income and the employer-provided health insurance.

3) Prioritizing family and friends

When the chips are down, you see who really shows up for you. Several people told me they’ve come to appreciate the family members and friends who’ve been there for them during this tough time, and that long after the coronavirus dies down, it’s this group that they want to re-up their investment in.

“Quarantine has reinforced the necessity of telling people how you feel about them,” said Andrew Goldberg, a recent graduate from Syracuse University. “With social distancing and stay-at-home orders in place, it is easier than ever to feel isolated from the world. But as the days stretch into weeks, I’ve decided that the only way I’ll be able to keep my spirits up is by making sure the people I care about know exactly how I feel about them.”

Others emphasized that the bizarre, unprecedented nature of this global pandemic has allowed them to reach out to people they haven’t spoken to in ages. Suddenly they’ve found themselves on Zoom with estranged family members or old college roommates halfway around the world.

“I’ve talked with my older nephews more in the last few weeks than I’ve talked with them in years,” said Nancy Skinner Ringier, a retired speech-language pathologist, adding that they now share recipes and jokes.

4) Ethical action and activism in our highly interconnected world

This was perhaps the most encouraging set of responses: People told me that the global health crisis has shown them how interconnected we all are, and that they want to keep doing more for others after the pandemic ends. They’re donating more to charitable causes, trying harder to reduce their carbon footprint, and engaging in more political activism.

“I’d like to keep my home a headquarters for the three different county mutual aid coalitions I’m affiliated with,” said Erin Brown of Tazewell County, Illinois. “I currently have donations stored here that delivery volunteers and folks in need come to collect. My landline, which is part of my internet package, was never used before but is now a mutual aid contact number. I’m in a good location, near all three of those counties, and I suspect mutual aid will be vital for some time to come.”

The protests against police brutality have also galvanized millions to fight for racial justice.

“For the longest time, I did not keep up with current news. It’s not hard to see why — our world is a shitshow, and my mental health is bad enough as is,” said Adrian DeRoy, a 27-year-old reader in the US. “But the black community rising up yet again to face their challenges made me look, and seeing the world slowly but surely start to fall in step with the protests here, the voices crying out as one ... it gives me some small semblance of hope. Hope that maybe we will get through all this, and come out better than we were before.”

5) Exercising daily

This was another very common response. Many people who weren’t previously into fitness have been getting into running, yoga, and other activities as a way to cope with lockdown. And they’ve been astounded at how much daily exercise can improve life.

“Desperate for any excuse to leave the house, I’ve finally been able to keep up a daily exercise routine. It’s incredible how much difference even a short jog every morning makes!” Katie Reynolds, a Vox reader in the US, told me. “My sleep is better, my brain feels clearer, my mood is improved, and it feels easier to keep up other good habits. Definitely will be keeping this habit, at least until there’s ice on the ground again.”

6) Baking, vegetarian cooking, and growing herbs

Yes, the sourdough obsession is real. Several people wrote to me in glowing terms about their starters.

“I believe I’ll be keeping my sourdough starter. It’s like another family pet at this point,” said Matthew Schreiber, who lives in New Orleans.

In addition to baking bread, people also mentioned that they plan to keep fermenting things like sauerkraut and generally cooking more of their own meals so they can eat less processed food.

Specifically, people want to cook more vegetarian meals and lean away from meat-eating. The impulse seems to be coming not only from the fact that there are meat shortages in some US grocery stores, but also from the knowledge that a live-animal market in China may have given rise to the coronavirus and that the giant factory farms that supply 99 percent of America’s meat are a pandemic risk, too .

Many also told me they’re enjoying growing herbs like mint and cilantro on their patios, or growing vegetables like celery and scallions in little glasses on their windowsills.

It’s not really surprising that the coronavirus crisis has prompted this reaction. It’s reminiscent of World War I and II, when Americans grew their own fruits and vegetables in “victory gardens.” The back-to-nature impulse offers psychological comfort at a time of great uncertainty, as well as a practical safeguard against supply-chain problems: If the stores run out of food, at least we’ll have our vegetables!

7) Spending more time in nature

Getting outdoors has been, for many of us, a crucial way to maintain our sanity during lockdown. In particular, parents have wanted to give their cooped-up kids a chance to run around and release some energy (which, frankly, is probably as crucial for the parents’ mental health as for the children’s).

“I have developed a morning routine that involves ‘quiet listening’ on the porch with the kids. It’s a great way to start out calm with my wild little ones,” said Sharon Lapin, a painter in Atlanta.

Others are simply enjoying the chance to reconnect to the natural world. Its rhythms and resilience can help to calm our anxious minds.

“I want to stay in this less distracted zone and enjoy the time I have with my husband by taking advantage of the natural world (hiking, kayaking) and taking trips in our camper,” said Camille Costa Nerney of upstate New York.

8) Working from home, if possible

Lockdowns across the globe led to millions of people suddenly working from home — and guess what? It turns out we can do many jobs just as well in the comfort of our own homes (and sweatpants) as in our offices.

Of course, for many people, this is not an option. It’s a privilege to be able to work from home. That said, the myth that remote work isn’t as practical as a 9-to-5 office job has been proven to be just that: a myth. Some are finding that working from home actually offers unique benefits.

“I’m a counseling psychologist, and I have been doing client work remotely. I think I will keep doing it remotely! It’s quite convenient,” said Raphael Doval-Santos. “My practice also gets to be more global, and my new clients are not just within my city anymore.”

Several respondents said they love no longer having to commute to work. It means no pollution, more sleep, and less stress.

“I actually like this now; it’s better this way,” said Hermee Sorneo, a 36-year-old customer service team leader for a data management company in the Philippines. “There’s so much benefit in working from home, and I think the world should do this voluntarily, with or without pandemic, at least once every 10 years for at least three months.”

The “with or without pandemic” point brings up a key question. Lots of us say we want to maintain our new habits in a post-pandemic world, but will we, really?

As anyone who’s ever tried a New Year’s resolution knows, maintaining new habits is hard. But psychologists who specialize in behavior change say there are things you can do now to make it more likely that you’ll succeed down the line. For instance, you can prime your environment, whether by setting up an automatically recurring monthly donation or putting running shoes by your bed to nudge you to go for that morning run. It’s also good to reward yourself each time you engage in the target behavior — but make it an intrinsic reward, not an extrinsic one. So instead of reaching for a smoothie after every run, pause to savor the extra energy and strength you feel.

Finally, it’s important to note that if you don’t emerge from this pandemic with any great new habits, that is absolutely all right. Sometimes surviving is an accomplishment in itself.

“With my quarantine, good habits came of it. But I want others to know it’s okay if good, bad, or nothing came out of this quarantine,” said Farishta Saifi, a 23-year-old home health aide. “The world is a scary place right now, and just you living another day is excellent enough.”

Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter and we’ll send you a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling the world’s biggest challenges — and how to get better at doing good.

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An Unfinished Thought: My Life in Quarantine

A partially folded pile of laundry, an essay left undone, kids’ toys everywhere. The coronavirus has turned my life into an unfinished thought – well-intentioned in the beginning but falling flat during execution. Pre-quarantine things were going fairly smooth for my family. We moved to the town where my daughter attends school, which cut my commute down by 30 minutes. My son was finally adjusting to being left at the sitter. My marriage was stabilizing after a rocky winter. I was fully focused and succeeding in school and sharing my perspective as a parent to programs like Ascend and Family Futures Downeast. Then all of that was thrown up in the air. 

When the quarantine started, I was excited. My classes were already online so there was little adjustment to make there. I was happy to get the extra family time. We ordered some groceries, created a schedule, and started some art projects. One of them was a cardboard dome. My husband and I started the dome with vigor. We measured each cardboard component and cut carefully. With music playing in the background and the kids running in and out, quarantine started off really fun. As the day wore on, our dome pieces got more erratic. We stopped checking the directions. I gave my five-year-old a Sharpie and said, “Go for it.” We had reached the chaotic shift. So far, our time in quarantine has mirrored that first weekend – well intentioned, lovingly planned and thought out, and yet still coming apart at the seams. 

I used to get all my schoolwork finished in the middle of the week. I worked part-time at the school library, which allowed me to get the bulk of that done. Now I’m doing all my assignments at the last minute and I’m positive their quality, despite my work ethic, has gone down. 

 I started my daughter on a schedule to keep her routine. She is in Pre-K, so her homeschooling was fairly simple and easy going: number recognition, learning what sounds go with what letters, things like that. We started strong but as the time wore on, the schedule basically became a piece of paper on the wall. She tells me, “Just let me do this MY way” whenever I try to show her anything. I worry she’s lonely for her friends. Pre-K is such an essential place and time for social-emotional development. I know she loved school and that it was really good for her to be around other kids and adults. 

My son, who is now 20 months old, loves being quarantined, but has become so clingy. It’s like peeling a piece of staticky laundry off. He follows me around crying. He has a sensory disorder that we’d gotten under control but has come back with a vengeance. He also developed eczema. I spend a lot of the time of the day wishing my kids were anywhere but near me. Then at night I have nightmares. Someone is trying to take them away from me.  

The only consistency in this weird time has been my husband, who has been like a rock for me. He takes the kids for walks, listens to me rant and rave, and encourages me with school. He even does the dishes – the chore I hate more than any other. I’m not sure where my family would be without his presence and energy.  

I log onto my school’s online curriculum page multiple times a day. I can’t remember what I’ve turned in and what I haven’t. I have no idea what’s due. I don’t even know what week we’re in. I’ve got an intense May term class coming up, then I have two online summer classes. I’ve got my fall classes scheduled. I’m supposed to do an internship but I’m constantly anxious about how all this will work. What’s going to happen next? Will America open up too soon and will more people get sick? I’ve been fortunate that so far no one I am close to has had a known case of the virus, but I’m waiting for that call that my parents or siblings are sick, or my friends (who are like family), or that my immunocompromised baby will get it. I’m worried that I won’t be able to graduate next May like I’m supposed to. I’m also feeling a huge weight of existential dread. 

The laundry isn’t going to get folded, my essay will get haphazardly finished. The toys aren’t getting put up. Social media tells me what I’m experiencing is normal. I’ve got a support system. I’m not alone in this, and yet I still can’t finish anything. I can’t sleep, and I find my ability to care about most things diminishing. Just like this post, everything feels incomplete. Like the cardboard dome we started but didn’t finish. Like my homework, like the laundry, it’s supposed to be normal; but really it isn’t.  

Savannah Steiger is a participant in Family Futures Downeast and the Caring Community Collaborative. She is also an Ascend Parent Advisor supporting the  Aspen Postsecondary Success for Parents Initiative.

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Our ‘Before’ No Longer Makes Sense. How Do We Live Now?

By Elizabeth Dias and Audra D. S. Burch April 5, 2021

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As we look ahead to life after the pandemic, many people are wondering what will be different in our lives.

Will we go back to living the way we did before? And what if we do? Do we risk losing something we’ve learned from one long and terrifying year?

For some the ordeal brought inner reflection about the meaning and shape of life.

An awakening.

“I don’t think I can go back to a ‘before.’ I don’t think I fit into that life anymore.”

Mary Fugate, Punxsutawney, Pa.

“I care much more about being with people who make me feel whole now. The pandemic scraped away all facades we’ve built around our lives.”

Elena K. Cruz, Washington, Mo.

“It has made me realize that I am no more than human, and that there is nothing I can think or do to change that, and that I must embrace that for whatever it means.”

Lucas Jakobi, Tustin, Calif.

Who We Are Now

By Elizabeth Dias and Audra D. S. Burch

Photographs by Amr Alfiky, Rose Marie Cromwell, Ryan Jenq and Elliot Ross

Produced by Heather Casey, Rebecca Lieberman and Eden Weingart

Certain moments in life have the power to shift our core sense of being. The death of a parent. The birth of a child. An incurable disease diagnosis.

The coronavirus pandemic and all it has wrought is such a moment. Everyone knows someone who got sick or died or lost her job. Everyone has a personal “before” and “after.” It has been a collective near-death experience, for those lucky enough to survive.

People have found themselves close to life’s deepest questions, those forced by an apocalypse. Questions about how we live, how we suffer, and how we make meaning of our short time here on this earth.

Who am I? Who are we? Who are we becoming? How have we been transformed?

Through it all, the world has not stopped. The killing of George Floyd. The Capitol siege. More mass shootings. For some, facing trauma feels too hard. Others have found unexpected resilience and courage, rage or stillness. Transformation was forced on some, and for others it was chosen. For many, the suffering of this past year has birthed an awakening.

The questions of how we have changed will be with us in the months, and years, ahead. The process of reflection is just beginning. Where it takes us remains to be seen.

But the clarity that comes with intense suffering often clouds as time moves on. We have a window now to look at our lives anew.

This is the story of how America is beginning that journey, in her own words.

“You do what you need to do for the people you love.”

Mary Fugate, 31, who works in higher education, moved home from Cincinnati to Punxsutawney, Pa.

I spent most of 2020 dying for human interaction. I lived on the top floor of a duplex, I had this gorgeous front porch. There were so many birds. I downloaded an app to learn all of their songs. I learned the barn owl and the mourning dove and house sparrows. They would be constant friends to me — my mourning dove, she always sings between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Then in the summer my sister in New Mexico was hospitalized with a cyst that could have been cancerous. She just got really sick really quickly. We had had a falling out and weren’t speaking. When I offered to go, I was expecting her to say no. I am thankful we are back to being sisters.

The exact moment I knew I was going to be OK was when I was driving to New Mexico and realized, “I’m the girl that despite all challenges will drive across the country in a freaking pandemic to be with the people she loves most.”

That was a moment of such clarity. I had been diagnosed with PTSD, and wearing a mask is very triggering for trauma. If I couldn’t even leave my house to get groceries, how could I drive across the country? You do what you need to do for the people you love. Realizing that strength — that was such a changing moment in my life.

In the hospital, with my sister 10 hours a day, it became almost a meditation: I am the girl who can wear a mask for the people she loves. I am the girl that can go to the pharmacy for the people that she loves. It has become something I say to myself.

It was the utter dark loneliness of coming back to an empty apartment that made me decide to move home to my parents.

I got in my car and did one final lap around my neighborhood, and then I just started driving. I cried the whole time. Grief over the future I thought I was having, grief over not just being able to tough it out and stay. Grieving the loss of my independence.

One of the first days back, I heard a mourning dove, and instantly started to cry. It meant a lot to know its song, and to realize I am in a completely different physical location, and the birds are still familiar to me.

I don’t know who I am becoming. I like who I am becoming, I just haven’t fully met her yet.

I don’t think I can go back to a “before.” I don’t think I fit into that life anymore. I’ve just grown and changed, and many priorities and values have shifted. My peak excitement right now is getting ready for baby ducks on the farm in spring. I like the slowness of things right now.

There are parts of 2020 that I never want to talk about again in my life, the dark moments. There were moments I thought I was going to lose my sister, moments I thought I would lose myself. There were moments that propelled me to where I am now. I don’t want to give 2020 credit, but I feel it put me on a conveyor belt to transformation that I wouldn’t have had without it.

“My husband quit his job and we moved to his hometown. No one yells every day anymore. I have come to the realization that maybe I deserve to be happy too.”

Erin Peregrine Antalis, Lincoln, Neb.

“We had an unplanned pregnancy. I’ve experienced grief because I never realized what you give up to be a new parent. But I would give up all of those things again and again for my son. I think the pandemic helped this new transition. We had so much we had to give up that it softened the blow a bit.”

Angela Windnagel, St. Paul, Minn.

“I applied to over 400 jobs in 2020 alone. It feels like there’s no way to catch up, let alone get ahead. I focus on enjoying the little things, because those are things I can control.”

Morgan Anderson, Palatine, Ill.

“The pandemic has forced me into the present. It’s the meditation I never wanted but have come to appreciate. That said, last week I kicked a hole in the bathroom door.”

Jessica Berta, Milwaukee

“I made a vow to not skip another Christmas or Japanese New Year with my parents. I don’t know how many I’ll have left with them.”

Paige Bowman, Washington, D.C.

“I just couldn’t deal with the lack of empathy. Now I have very few people who survived on my list of friends. And my phone is a whole lot quieter. But I honestly wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Iara Diaz-Araujo, Orlando, Fla.

“I don’t skip walks with my husband just because I am tired.”

Rebecca Vaughan-Geib, Herndon, Va.

“I know I am becoming someone different.”

Joelle Wright-Terry, 47, a hospice chaplain from Clinton Township, Mich., is a Covid survivor. She lost her husband to the virus last April.

Our Covid story started with us both having a horrific cough. My husband had Type 1 diabetes. I had a fever of 104. I have never been that sick in my life.

My husband drove me to the hospital. I came back the same day. That night, he drove himself back to the hospital. Before he left, he turned to the boys and told them to take care of your mom. A couple of days later, the doctors put him on oxygen. His chest was hurting so bad and by that time, my Covid had kicked in full force. We could barely talk to each other. We basically suffered in silence. Then he started to really decline.

We FaceTimed and told him how good a husband and father he was. And we reminded him how much we loved him. That was at one o’clock on the 2nd of April. My husband let go at 8:50 that evening.

I honestly thought I was going to pass away at home. I kept saying I do not want to leave the boys, I do not want to die in front of them. Covid is a kind of warfare that changes you. The only thing that got me through was Psalms 57.

It attacks your mind. It attacks your muscles. It attacks your joints. It attacks your lungs. It is a pain that I’ve never felt in my life. And I’ve had surgeries. And I have had cancer. You can’t go back to living the same life after surviving Covid.

My husband took care of us. He never missed a beat with the boys, going to their school functions. He worked as a business owner, making gravestones and monuments. He left behind at least 100 orders — some Covid victims. I looked at the number of orders and I began to pray. I emptied out my entire savings to try to save our business and keep his legacy going. Now we, the boys and I, are learning the gravestone business.

I have been strengthened by the testimonies of other widows who have come into my shop, and we sit there and we grieve together. If it had not been for the Lord on my side, I am not sure how I would have made it.

We had a small private funeral. He passed away by himself. And I didn’t want him laid to rest inside of a cemetery where he would be alone. I believe I will eventually move South again to be closer to my family. And I did not want to leave him alone again, so I had my husband cremated so he can always be with me.

I am a volunteer minister at my church. I often presided over the funerals. Never in a million years did I think that I would be sitting on the front pew, you know, with my husband lying before me, as other families have done. I never, never imagined that I would be sitting there with a minister speaking Scripture and praying and eulogizing as I have done for families. The pandemic, my husband’s death and God have taught me to appreciate our loved ones. I’ve already told my boys, we’ve got to figure out a way to get to Alabama to see my mother and sisters more often because family is just so important.

My husband died a year ago. I know I am becoming someone different. I just don’t know what that difference will be yet. I know I was a wife. And now I am 47 years old and a widow.

“I no longer have any clear trajectory, and I am learning to make peace with that.”

G.J. Hodson, Arlington, Texas

“I broke up with my boyfriend of almost four years. I’m trying to take it one day at a time, but also still feeling so lost because I still don’t have an ‘after’ defined.”

Jamie Tylicki, New York

“Coming out of this, I realized emotions can’t wait for another day. I am calling my parents more, and expressing my love and gratitude to them.”

Vaneet Singh, Memphis

“I am not going to try to be polite anymore. I am going to hopefully become a less behaved, less likable, ballsier, more outspoken, more dangerous woman. All these rules I had followed, these rules will not save me.”

Aline Mello, Marietta, Ga.

“I really feel like I learned a lot during the pandemic, but this new feeling has this real feeling of emptiness I’ve never felt before.”

Justin Parker, New York

“I’ve completely lost interest in traveling. I think most about wanting to have friends over in our home. For me, looking forward is all about making my deep roots here even deeper.”

Namir Yedid, San Diego

“My church has been paying for my rent, utilities and food while I am living with no paycheck. This year has stripped me from so much, but it also allowed me to focus and evaluate the big picture of my life. What kind of legacy do I want to leave behind?”

Beca Bruder, Alexandria, Va.

“I finally started looking at myself.”

Melva James, 42, is a cybersecurity consultant who grew up in Jackson, Miss., and lives in Massachusetts. The tumult of the past year inspired a dramatic life change.

One of my best friend’s mothers passed away of Covid. And a friend committed suicide during the pandemic. There’s been a lot of suffering around me.

The other thing that was happening, was all this stuff around the police killings and the fear of the Trump presidency and all of the hatred he was fomenting. I was feeling very unsafe, particularly as a Black person. And I was like, you know what, life could end at any moment. I need to figure out how to enjoy my life with whatever time I have left. How do I make my life more complete?

In October or November I started identifying as nonbinary. Before that, I identified as a woman, as a gay person. I think I’ve been trying to find myself for a long time.

People talk about feeling like they were mismatched or that they were really a boy, but they had been assigned as a girl. That was not my experience. I was just totally estranged from my body, I did not think about it at all and that’s an important distinction.

There is a major turning point in my life that I feel is connected. The death of my mother. Her death marked the end of my childhood though I was, on paper, a grown person. It was unmooring. It was this sense of being alone in the world, even though my dad was still alive. But he was grieving and I did not want to lean on him. So what I feel like I’ve experienced during the pandemic and what I experienced at that time was the same sense of, I could die at any time and I don’t want to die not knowing how to be happy.

I talk a lot about “being happy” and “learning to be happy,” which implies my life has a lot of sadness. This is not my day-to-day experience. Happiness versus sadness is not what I’m thinking when I’m saying that. What I’m thinking is the difference between surviving and thriving, between living and being truly alive.

The pandemic has forced me to spend so much time alone. Last year, I started taking yoga two or three days a week. In doing my yoga practice, I became physically stronger, as well as more aware of my body and aware of my breathing and I paid attention to myself in a way that I hadn’t before. I learned how to stand up straight. I used to brush my teeth and wash my face every day, but I did not look at myself. I finally started looking at myself. And when I looked at my face, I was like, I want a more masculine face. I naturally grow hair on my chin and I always shaved it and I stopped trying to make it disappear. And I’m like, this is what my face looks like. And I would be happy if I had a mustache. Me spending time with me and my body and learning how to stand up straight and learning how to see what other people see when they look at me — that’s how it began to happen.

Especially with regard to my physical self, I’ve felt a lot of nothing in the past. Depression, so often, is less about feeling sad and more about feeling nothing. Living inside my body and getting to know my full self is part of my journey from nothingness to joy. I’m so excited and hopeful about what life has to offer now that I don’t feel like I’m just existing.

“I have hands, I have work I can do.”

Maria Judith Alvarez Quiroz, 41, of Glenwood Springs, Colo., is a medical assistant from Mexico who has lived in the United States for the past 15 years.

In December 2019, right before the pandemic, I was laid off.

Before, I had a good job. We bought a trailer home and two cars and we had two telephones, one personal, one for work. It was the first year that we were by ourselves. We had always lived with other people, family. My husband did not have a job and was depressed. I got therapy and started working again with a doctor as his assistant in a clinic.

At the end of March my husband became ill and was hospitalized. They moved him to another hospital 90 minutes away, for two weeks. It took me three hours to go there and back. My son was not able to go with me. My husband was not diagnosed with Covid, but I didn’t understand why there was a problem with his lungs. He had fluid and blood coming out. He never recovered. We were married 15 years.

I lost a lot of weight after the loss. When I would take a shower, I would think of him and that is when I would cry. The hospital bills, I cannot begin to tell you.

I am completely different. After the pandemic I have decided to forgive everyone I can, treat them like family, brothers and sisters. Life is too short. It can change in a moment. You can’t go around with resentment in your heart.

When we moved into the trailer home, I’d said, Why would we fix ours up? We don’t even know if we will stay here or not. But the thing is, you have to live each day.

I was a general doctor in Mexico. As a doctor I know you have to take care of your health, so I started eating healthier, and I got closer to God.

When I was little I had poliomyelitis in one foot. That was a pretty big trauma for me. I fought with God, because I would say: Why me? Why can’t I play or run or jump or dance like other kids? When my husband died, I fought with God again. But afterwards, I forgave him. I don’t fight with him anymore. I just go on. If a job comes along and I get it, I say thank you. If he takes it away, I say OK.

When my husband died I felt like I had lost everything. I had nothing left to lose except my son. When I moved here from Mexico 15 years ago, I lost my dream of being a doctor. I work with the doctor in the clinic and it makes my heart happy, but I don’t treat the patients. But I thought, I have hands, I have work I can do, and if I can help people, that will be good.

That gives my life some sense. I am able to earn money to take care of my son, my family, my parents in Mexico. This is the first year I was able to send money to my parents so they could buy gifts for poor kids for the Day of the Magi.

The Latino community has suffered quite a bit with Covid, because we don’t have information. We don’t have information because we are afraid. We are not here legally, this is not our country.

I’d like to be a leader in my community. I don’t talk very much in meetings, and I’d like to talk more to be able to work with others and resolve the inequities in society.

I have discovered that really, we are all leaders.

“While I was just a few weeks into maternity leave, I was the first person to be let go from my office. It’s a disgusting feeling — nausea followed by rage. My husband and I are running a business together now. But one thing is clear: We will never be someone else’s employees again.”

Sarah S., New Orleans

“It forced me to let go of any notion that I could hold myself together and get on with the show. But it also made room for me to fall fully apart and look at the pieces. Since then, I’ve changed my housing, my church, my career plans, and the family and friends I allow in.”

Shelby Doyle, Melrose, Mass.

“There was a moment where I walked by my neighbor and asked her how she was doing. She was 82 at the time and in a sad, but very honest way, she told me that she was prepared to die. It wasn’t that she didn’t love life, I think she was afraid that in this year, life wouldn’t love her back. After listening to what she said, I felt guilty for being so unfazed by death.”

Gabriel Murphy, Winthrop, Mass.

“I am falling back in love with myself, taking extra time each day to care for my African violets and orchids. How I plan to live my life moving forward: no more doing for others what I do not want to do. I am centering my attention on the things that give me peace.”

Jeffreen Hayes, Chicago

“I’ve had such toxic assumptions about work, what ‘hard work’ is and how if you do it, it means you are a good person. Now I’m not even sure the ‘work’ I do in a day means anything. It has shown me how fallible all our thinking is.”

Annick Dall, Minneapolis

“Nobody will take care of me other than myself. We need to take responsibility not only for ourselves but for others.”

Huangliang Chen, Boston

“I had to close my small flower shop. In June I made $400. I do not want to go back to before. There is a lack of compassion and help. It is all about money. When I see such inequality, unfairness, sometimes I am like: Why are we doing all this?”

Yasmine Karrenberg, New York City

“How do we go forward?”

Ramah Commanday, 70, a ceramist, delayed a cross-country move to stay safe during the pandemic. Then, on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Glass Fire destroyed her home in St. Helena, Calif.

It burned when it burned. Just before the time the heavens are supposed to open up and we are supposed to be inscribed in the Book of Life. I had to leave immediately. I didn’t grab anything. It was up to the powers. By nightfall, my world of home and objects was gone.

I went back to the site, to see what remained, if anything. What I was able to dig up was a ruined, a completely ruined version of itself. It was like viewing the body. It is a task you have to do.

My kiln remained. I actually found a few pieces of my work that were intact, and a few more that were repairable, which I did. The act of repairing the broken pieces was healing. The rest I just walked away from.

What this did unexpectedly was refocus me, without even my conscious effort in doing so. It refocused me on what I had, as opposed to what I had lost.

The intensity of that refocus really took me by surprise. I am as amazed as anybody. How can I possibly weep for an armchair when so many people have lost multiple members of their own families?

I feel braver than I did before all of this happened. This is a kind of resilience that is real, and I am not alone in it. Maybe I am more glad that I know these things about myself than I am sorry to have lost a bunch of stuff. If this is what it took to put me in this place in my life’s journey, this is what it took.

I was born in 1950. I am Jewish. A lot of the Holocaust stories, apart from stories of unthinkable cruelty and destruction, are stories of strength, if not grace. The people who go through it due to various kinds of courage and iterations of kindness, and intelligence and resilience. If your parents’ generation can do that, then you can get through this.

We are living through a sea change that is just so dizzying, it will take a lot to process it. I will never forget the apocalyptic experience aspect of things. The big turning point for everyone was the year 2020. The new political realities created by the Trump phenomenon. The environmental climate change crisis. With Texas freezing. California burning. The mask requirements. The virus realities.

It is like how the world changed irretrievably after the world wars. We are facing a very stark question as individuals. How do we go forward? Do we give up or not? And if you choose not to give up, how do you keep going?

There are the people who are creating their own personal bunkers, either literally or metaphorically. Then there are people who just figure, we have to find a way of joining hands and plodding forward. What do we have as human beings that is not evil, that is not destructive, that is the opposite? What about art? What about kindness? What do we have that we can call on so we can live out our lives, deriving as much joy and positive experience as we can? Because wasting our lives, or living our lives in a state of misery insofar as we have any control over it, is unbearable.

This is what is driving me forward. There is nothing I can do about the stuff that burned up. Everything has a life span. I can look at this as the end of the world, apocalypse, but really, our worlds all end when we die. And in the meantime, I am alive, I am still here, and what can I do about it?

Additional research by Susan Beachy.

Photographs by:

Amr Alfiky/The New York Times

Rose Marie Cromwell for The New York Times

Ryan Jenq for The New York Times

Elliot Ross for The New York Times

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My Students’ Reflections on “A Day in my Life During Covid-19″ – Bellarmine Preparatory School

I am delighted to share the following student reflections, which have been submitted by my students as part of Global Student Stories Project A Day in my Life: living under the Covid-19 Pandemic . My students look forward to reading their peers’ reflections from other Jesuit schools around the world.

A Day in my Life, written by Aysan, 17, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

My typical day has changed significantly since the outbreak of COVID-19. It has altered my daily routine in many ways. Before the outbreak, my daily routine consisted of waking up at 7 am and going to school. After school, I had sports practice at the YMCA and I would also coach youth basketball. Since the outbreak, all the students have been quarantined resulting in a cancellation of school, sports, and many other significant events in people’s lives. It has been difficult and quite boring adjusting to a life where you aren’t always moving around, but confined in your home with your family. It has left many of us anxious, confused, and worried about what’s to come next. As a senior in high school, many of us wonder whether we will have to cancel our graduation ceremony. My hope is for everything to go back to normal as quickly as possible and for everyone to stay healthy and safe. COVID-19 continues to spread to many parts of the world and has evolved to impact youth as well, which is concerning as a student. Our school, Bellarmine Preparatory, has adopted distance learning as an effective method to continue our education to the best of our ability.

A Day in my Life, written by Elliot, 17, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

During this COVID-19 outbreak that has been raging on, I turned this pandemic into a moment of opportunity. My daily schedules had been messed up and my final Senior season with my team seems to be entirely cancelled. But there is more to this Pandemic than what meets the eye. For myself as a Senior, I thought that my senior year was going to be a breeze and that I wouldn’t have to worry and only wait on my colleges for decisions. Instead, I was greeted by more homework and tests with no motivation to do it. I was going downhill, and going downhill very fast. When COVID-19 hit Washington, our school shut down, and during this moment of seclusion I was able to recoup, reflect, and reorganize myself to begin online school work. This event also provided me time to stay with my family and connect even more before I have to leave for college. If normal schedules were still dictated, I would have had only 2 weeks after graduation with my family before I would get dropped off at the United States Military Academy and begin summer training. Now, I’m able to get the most out of this pandemic to make sure that I am within the security of my family before I take my final leave. I understand that this isn’t the most ideal situation for everyone. Especially those that hit close to home. But no matter how dark things may seem, there will always be a light to guide you through those dark moments. Please be safe, and my thoughts and prayers are out to those who have been affected by this virus.

A Day in my Life, written by Gabe, 17, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

As the sun shines through my room, I rub my eyes and start my day. This normally consist of scrolling through Instagram and Snapchat. I have thirty minutes until my first online class. I meander to my kitchen and make some toast. This quarantine hasn’t stopped life; it has just slowed life down. Online classes fly by like a breeze. The sixty minutes a class that are put aside can normally be done in forty. School effectively ends at noon as I can finish the work later. I think about going outside to exercise… nah. I turn on the Playstation and grind at Minecraft. In the afternoon, when the video games and television becoming mundane, I start working on my school work. With Advance Placement exams coming up in a month, I better be prepared. I study for some of my subjects such as economics, physics, and statistics with online videos. After I feel like I have accomplished something, I go back to the Playstation and continue working on my Minecraft world. Sometime in the evening, my parents call me down for dinner, and my family and I have a good family meal. Discussions are almost always limited to Covid-19, but with only a few months left in the house, I cherish these times. After a few more hours on Netflix, I return to bed and plan on doing the same thing tomorrow.

A Day in my Life, written by Jackson, 18, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

As I sit in the same outfit I’ve been wearing for the past four days, I try to conjure up the words to describe how I’ve been living during this quarantine. I come up with one word, stuck. I’ve never felt more stuck in my life. Which has its positive and its negatives. Positives including being with my family. I really love my family so if I have to be stuck inside with anybody, I’m sure glad it’s them. I get to sleep until 9 which is nice. Gotten to catch up on some shows I’ve been wanting to binge watch. But if I’m being honest, that’s pretty much it. There’s not much of an upside to this quarantine. It’s no summer vacation, it’s no snow break. Still having school but at my own house, with my phone, video games, and tv at my disposal… doesn’t make for the best learning environment. My lack of focus unsurprisingly resulted in me being very behind in each class. So I hope that this whole pandemic ends soon, but that of course is just a dream we all share right now, no one really knows how long this will last. A couple more weeks, a couple more months… God forbid a couple more years. But realizing that this is our reality makes me realize I need to shape up and work hard at home because it may become my high school for the remaining months. I plan on taking the weekend to get fully caught up in each class to make sure that I don’t get buried underneath all the assignments piling on top of me. And after I get myself situated, all I can do is hope that people infected will heal, that those who are healthy will stay that way, and the world may go back to normal.

A Day in my Life, written by Kelli, 16, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

My four white walls surround me. I am trapped both by the constraints of my house and within the technological void of my iPad. My typical day consists of online school. As eager teachers are to get back to their syllabus, classes have changed so drastically. Rather they consist of failed connections, miscommunication, and the questioning of our wellbeing. My daily routine is waiting for the next meal, walking my dog, watching the news, trying to not spend hours scrolling through my phone, and studying. I am a very busy person, so going from the constant stress of school and extra curriculars to stuck in my room all day is a struggle. Not knowing what the outcome of the world will be is truly frightening. I am very fortunate because I am still having an education and I have the access to resources I need to get through this pandemic. I am unsure if we will ever be going back to our normal routines in the near future, but I am grateful to be healthy with my family. My parents are taking the quarantine very seriously because my grandma lives with us. Her cancer makes her more susceptible to the virus, especially because she has risked going without chemo to not have to visit the hospital. Corona has uprooted the lives of all, including mine.

A Day in my Life, written by Maxx, 17, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

Bonjour le Monde!  When I first heard the dreaded, expected news that Bellarmine was closing due to the corona virus I was heartbroken.  My senior year lacrosse season was coming to an end before it even started.  If the virus continued spreading (which it is), then prom will be canceled along with graduation, senior trip, and nerf wars.  Everything that we’ve been waiting for these last 4 years is ending.  And it sucks. For the first couple weeks out I was lethargic and spent my days barely trudging through my school work and doing nothing of importance. Eventually, however, I realized that this is a perfect opportunity for me to do the things that I was never able to do before because I was “too busy”. Thus, I started learning French.  When you have a passion for something it comes much easier and you have a much stronger motivation to achieve it, and that’s my case. Every day I begin with online learning of common phrases and vocab and am working on expanding my speaking skill set.  The hardest part in doing things is simply getting started so while I have many other things that I also could be working on, I’m really grateful that I was able to take this time in exploring a new language.  I keep picturing myself in the Latin quarter in Paris meeting people and having the time of my life, all while speaking fluent French.  While it is in some ways both a small and a big goal, I can’t wait to see where it takes me.  In terms of school activities, there’s nothing I can do to control the situation besides staying home and making use of what I have.  Profiter du présent!

A Day in my Life, writen by Regan, 16, Bellarmine Preparatory School, USA

Splashed across our television and newspaper happens to be a crippling fear to which I am unable to be granted participation. Despite the warnings and the self-quarantine, I must not let fear rot my mind, for although I cannot leave the house, I am still expected to attend school. Routines of the past three years have been smashed to ruin as I now plant myself at a blue light screen an hour later than usual, to attend video-chat classes with peers whose hair is still crumpled by the pillows they lounge on. Most days, I follow a simple algorithm: wake up, go to school, lunch, finish school, homework, workout, and then wind down for dinner and sleep. Mirroring the lack of freedom, my days on paper appear to be devoid of excitement. The routine does not appear to include the vast amounts of time spent reading books and trying to beat my record of how fast I can read. This outline does not include the classic Disney puzzle that my family is struggling to finish. In all actuality, this is not any excitement. It pales in comparison to the stage lights that I had experienced days prior to being locked down. I guess this is new excitement for a new routine. Bleak is the main word I would use to describe the world right now. The prospects of losing friends and loved ones eggs the back of my mind. The unknown and uncertainty pulls my senses into tense ropes. I can only hope that this swirling storm has a rainbow at the end, a Disney ending for a harsh reality check.

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How to Write The Common App’s New “Optional” COVID-19 Essay

Stacey Brook, Founder and Chief Advisor

Since the start of the pandemic, the question we have most frequently been asked by college applicants is, “Should I write about the Coronavirus in my college essay?” The Common Application has provided what we interpret to be a direct response to that query in the form of a brand new optional essay prompt. The prompt, which has a maximum word count of 250 and can be found in the Additional Information section of the Common App reads:

“Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.”

Of course, the release of this new prompt has generated new questions about how students can make the most of their essays and present themselves authentically and holistically on their 2020-21 applications. Below, we answer your burning questions and dispense tips and tricks to help applicants craft sincere and impactful responses to this highly-specific prompt.

Q: What is this question really asking?

A: This prompt does students many favors in its clarity and straightforward nature. Schools want to know how the pandemic has impacted your life and world. Some students will have very obvious ways in which they have been affected by COVID-19 . If you or someone close to you has been afflicted with the virus, this is the space in which to detail the experience and related challenges. Are you immunocompromised and in heightened danger of contracting the virus? Do you have a parent who works in the healthcare system and who is not living with your family temporarily to protect you? Has someone in your family lost their job because of the economic impact of quarantine? What about your ability to access educational instruction and materials? Is wi-fi hard to come by at home? Do you live in an apartment with very little privacy and space for concentration? Be honest about how your life has changed because of the pandemic and resultant quarantine. Admissions knows that many students have been stretched thin during these challenging times and they want as much context as possible to help them evaluate your application in a fair light.

For students who have not faced the circumstances above, keep a few things in mind when approaching this prompt. It goes without saying that all students’ lives and modes of operation have been impacted by the pandemic. What you want to avoid in your response is elaboration on the obvious. Pretty much all applicants have endured the challenges of transitioning from in-person to online learning. They have all adapted in one way or another to the shifted schedules, truncated curriculums and imperfect grading metrics. What admissions wants to know is, how did you respond to these enormous shifts in learning and lifestyle?

Did you take the initiative to form a study group with five of your classmates to review class material for an extra hour each day? Have you started to deliver groceries to the elderly and other at-risk populations in your community in place of your usual in-person volunteer work at a nursing home? If you are an athlete, what does the abrupt end of your sports season mean to you? How have you been working on your own to stay in shape and mitigate that sense of loss? What have you committed yourself to accomplishing off the court or field instead? There are many opportunities to showcase your resilience and determination in the face of one of the greatest challenges of our lifetimes. Show admissions that you haven’t given up and that COVID has not dampened your will to succeed.

Q: Does this mean I can’t write about COVID-19 in my personal statement?

A: Yes. And no. It certainly should not be the core focus for most students. Before the pandemic, you spent sixteen or seventeen years on this earth engaging in meaningful activities, following your curiosity and building yourself into the complex and ambitious human you are today. Don’t allow yourself to be defined by this crisis. You are, and have always been, so much more than just a person who has lived through an epidemic. (Not that living through an epidemic isn’t impressive.) Of course, some students will have experiences during quarantine that are truly worth the personal statement’s full allotment of 650 words. And inserting a line or two in your essay about how your actions during quarantine are reflective of your core characteristics and goals could be very powerful. But it is important to keep in mind that you are trying to distinguish yourself from similarly qualified applicants, and one of the things you definitely all have in common is having weathered the challenges of this epidemic. So unless you have a truly unique take on COVID-19 and how it has impacted your life, think about who you have been, not just since March, but in all the months that have come before quarantine. When your friends and family think about what makes you you , what qualities might they highlight? What are the accomplishments and challenges that have driven your ambitions? Who do you want to be when the epidemic finally ends and we settle into a new normal? These are the kinds of messages you should try to convey in your personal statement. And with the addition of the new prompt, the Common App has made it easy for you to separate stories about COVID-19 from everything else you’ve lived through and worked for.

Q: Is this prompt really optional?

A: We here at CEA believe that, with very few exceptions, almost no prompts are truly optional. Why would you sacrifice another valuable opportunity to speak to admissions in your own voice and relay your experiences, motivations and aspirations? This new prompt is especially valuable in the current climate. It’s hard to believe there is a student out there that won’t have something to say about how COVID-19 has impacted their lives. Additionally, as mentioned above, writing about the pandemic in this space frees you up to relay something that represents you more completely in your personal statement. Plus, once you start drafting, you’ll find that 250 words isn’t very many words at all. We guarantee you will fill up that space in no time, and any information you are able to share with admissions about this time in your life will only help them better understand how you can be an asset on campus in times of crisis and otherwise.

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Essays reveal experiences during pandemic, unrest.

Field study students share their thoughts 

Members of Advanced Field Study, a select group of Social Ecology students who are chosen from a pool of applicants to participate in a year-long field study experience and course, had their internships and traditional college experience cut short this year. During our final quarter of the year together, during which we met weekly for two hours via Zoom, we discussed their reactions as the world fell apart around them. First came the pandemic and social distancing, then came the death of George Floyd and the response of the Black Lives Matter movement, both of which were imprinted on the lives of these students. This year was anything but dull, instead full of raw emotion and painful realizations of the fragility of the human condition and the extent to which we need one another. This seemed like the perfect opportunity for our students to chronicle their experiences — the good and the bad, the lessons learned, and ways in which they were forever changed by the events of the past four months. I invited all of my students to write an essay describing the ways in which these times had impacted their learning and their lives during or after their time at UCI. These are their voices. — Jessica Borelli , associate professor of psychological science

Becoming Socially Distant Through Technology: The Tech Contagion

The current state of affairs put the world on pause, but this pause gave me time to reflect on troubling matters. Time that so many others like me probably also desperately needed to heal without even knowing it. Sometimes it takes one’s world falling apart for the most beautiful mosaic to be built up from the broken pieces of wreckage. 

As the school year was coming to a close and summer was edging around the corner, I began reflecting on how people will spend their summer breaks if the country remains in its current state throughout the sunny season. Aside from living in the sunny beach state of California where people love their vitamin D and social festivities, I think some of the most damaging effects Covid-19 will have on us all has more to do with social distancing policies than with any inconveniences we now face due to the added precautions, despite how devastating it may feel that Disneyland is closed to all the local annual passholders or that the beaches may not be filled with sun-kissed California girls this summer. During this unprecedented time, I don’t think we should allow the rare opportunity we now have to be able to watch in real time how the effects of social distancing can impact our mental health. Before the pandemic, many of us were already engaging in a form of social distancing. Perhaps not the exact same way we are now practicing, but the technology that we have developed over recent years has led to a dramatic decline in our social contact and skills in general. 

The debate over whether we should remain quarantined during this time is not an argument I am trying to pursue. Instead, I am trying to encourage us to view this event as a unique time to study how social distancing can affect people’s mental health over a long period of time and with dramatic results due to the magnitude of the current issue. Although Covid-19 is new and unfamiliar to everyone, the isolation and separation we now face is not. For many, this type of behavior has already been a lifestyle choice for a long time. However, the current situation we all now face has allowed us to gain a more personal insight on how that experience feels due to the current circumstances. Mental illness continues to remain a prevalent problem throughout the world and for that reason could be considered a pandemic of a sort in and of itself long before the Covid-19 outbreak. 

One parallel that can be made between our current restrictions and mental illness reminds me in particular of hikikomori culture. Hikikomori is a phenomenon that originated in Japan but that has since spread internationally, now prevalent in many parts of the world, including the United States. Hikikomori is not a mental disorder but rather can appear as a symptom of a disorder. People engaging in hikikomori remain confined in their houses and often their rooms for an extended period of time, often over the course of many years. This action of voluntary confinement is an extreme form of withdrawal from society and self-isolation. Hikikomori affects a large percent of people in Japan yearly and the problem continues to become more widespread with increasing occurrences being reported around the world each year. While we know this problem has continued to increase, the exact number of people practicing hikikomori is unknown because there is a large amount of stigma surrounding the phenomenon that inhibits people from seeking help. This phenomenon cannot be written off as culturally defined because it is spreading to many parts of the world. With the technology we now have, and mental health issues on the rise and expected to increase even more so after feeling the effects of the current pandemic, I think we will definitely see a rise in the number of people engaging in this social isolation, especially with the increase in legitimate fears we now face that appear to justify the previously considered irrational fears many have associated with social gatherings. We now have the perfect sample of people to provide answers about how this form of isolation can affect people over time. 

Likewise, with the advancements we have made to technology not only is it now possible to survive without ever leaving the confines of your own home, but it also makes it possible for us to “fulfill” many of our social interaction needs. It’s very unfortunate, but in addition to the success we have gained through our advancements we have also experienced a great loss. With new technology, I am afraid that we no longer engage with others the way we once did. Although some may say the advancements are for the best, I wonder, at what cost? It is now commonplace to see a phone on the table during a business meeting or first date. Even worse is how many will feel inclined to check their phone during important or meaningful interactions they are having with people face to face. While our technology has become smarter, we have become dumber when it comes to social etiquette. As we all now constantly carry a mini computer with us everywhere we go, we have in essence replaced our best friends. We push others away subconsciously as we reach for our phones during conversations. We no longer remember phone numbers because we have them all saved in our phones. We find comfort in looking down at our phones during those moments of free time we have in public places before our meetings begin. These same moments were once the perfect time to make friends, filled with interactive banter. We now prefer to stare at other people on our phones for hours on end, and often live a sedentary lifestyle instead of going out and interacting with others ourselves. 

These are just a few among many issues the advances to technology led to long ago. We have forgotten how to practice proper tech-etiquette and we have been inadvertently practicing social distancing long before it was ever required. Now is a perfect time for us to look at the society we have become and how we incurred a different kind of pandemic long before the one we currently face. With time, as the social distancing regulations begin to lift, people may possibly begin to appreciate life and connecting with others more than they did before as a result of the unique experience we have shared in together while apart.

Maybe the world needed a time-out to remember how to appreciate what it had but forgot to experience. Life is to be lived through experience, not to be used as a pastime to observe and compare oneself with others. I’ll leave you with a simple reminder: never forget to take care and love more because in a world where life is often unpredictable and ever changing, one cannot risk taking time or loved ones for granted. With that, I bid you farewell, fellow comrades, like all else, this too shall pass, now go live your best life!

Privilege in a Pandemic 

Covid-19 has impacted millions of Americans who have been out of work for weeks, thus creating a financial burden. Without a job and the certainty of knowing when one will return to work, paying rent and utilities has been a problem for many. With unemployment on the rise, relying on unemployment benefits has become a necessity for millions of people. According to the Washington Post , unemployment rose to 14.7% in April which is considered to be the worst since the Great Depression. 

Those who are not worried about the financial aspect or the thought never crossed their minds have privilege. Merriam Webster defines privilege as “a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor.” Privilege can have a negative connotation. What you choose to do with your privilege is what matters. Talking about privilege can bring discomfort, but the discomfort it brings can also carry the benefit of drawing awareness to one’s privilege, which can lead the person to take steps to help others. 

I am a first-generation college student who recently transferred to a four-year university. When schools began to close, and students had to leave their on-campus housing, many lost their jobs.I was able to stay on campus because I live in an apartment. I am fortunate to still have a job, although the hours are minimal. My parents help pay for school expenses, including housing, tuition, and food. I do not have to worry about paying rent or how to pay for food because my parents are financially stable to help me. However, there are millions of college students who are not financially stable or do not have the support system I have. Here, I have the privilege and, thus, I am the one who can offer help to others. I may not have millions in funding, but volunteering for centers who need help is where I am able to help. Those who live in California can volunteer through Californians For All  or at food banks, shelter facilities, making calls to seniors, etc. 

I was not aware of my privilege during these times until I started reading more articles about how millions of people cannot afford to pay their rent, and landlords are starting to send notices of violations. Rather than feel guilty and be passive about it, I chose to put my privilege into a sense of purpose: Donating to nonprofits helping those affected by COVID-19, continuing to support local businesses, and supporting businesses who are donating profits to those affected by COVID-19.

My World is Burning 

As I write this, my friends are double checking our medical supplies and making plans to buy water and snacks to pass out at the next protest we are attending. We write down the number for the local bailout fund on our arms and pray that we’re lucky enough not to have to use it should things get ugly. We are part of a pivotal event, the kind of movement that will forever have a place in history. Yet, during this revolution, I have papers to write and grades to worry about, as I’m in the midst of finals. 

My professors have offered empty platitudes. They condemn the violence and acknowledge the stress and pain that so many of us are feeling, especially the additional weight that this carries for students of color. I appreciate their show of solidarity, but it feels meaningless when it is accompanied by requests to complete research reports and finalize presentations. Our world is on fire. Literally. On my social media feeds, I scroll through image after image of burning buildings and police cars in flames. How can I be asked to focus on school when my community is under siege? When police are continuing to murder black people, adding additional names to the ever growing list of their victims. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery. George Floyd. David Mcatee. And, now, Rayshard Brooks. 

It already felt like the world was being asked of us when the pandemic started and classes continued. High academic expectations were maintained even when students now faced the challenges of being locked down, often trapped in small spaces with family or roommates. Now we are faced with another public health crisis in the form of police violence and once again it seems like educational faculty are turning a blind eye to the impact that this has on the students. I cannot study for exams when I am busy brushing up on my basic first-aid training, taking notes on the best techniques to stop heavy bleeding and treat chemical burns because at the end of the day, if these protests turn south, I will be entering a warzone. Even when things remain peaceful, there is an ugliness that bubbles just below the surface. When beginning the trek home, I have had armed members of the National Guard follow me and my friends. While kneeling in silence, I have watched police officers cock their weapons and laugh, pointing out targets in the crowd. I have been emailing my professors asking for extensions, trying to explain that if something is turned in late, it could be the result of me being detained or injured. I don’t want to be penalized for trying to do what I wholeheartedly believe is right. 

I have spent my life studying and will continue to study these institutions that have been so instrumental in the oppression and marginalization of black and indigenous communities. Yet, now that I have the opportunity to be on the frontlines actively fighting for the change our country so desperately needs, I feel that this study is more of a hindrance than a help to the cause. Writing papers and reading books can only take me so far and I implore that professors everywhere recognize that requesting their students split their time and energy between finals and justice is an impossible ask.

Opportunity to Serve

Since the start of the most drastic change of our lives, I have had the privilege of helping feed more than 200 different families in the Santa Ana area and even some neighboring cities. It has been an immense pleasure seeing the sheer joy and happiness of families as they come to pick up their box of food from our site, as well as a $50 gift card to Northgate, a grocery store in Santa Ana. Along with donating food and helping feed families, the team at the office, including myself, have dedicated this time to offering psychosocial and mental health check-ups for the families we serve. 

Every day I go into the office I start my day by gathering files of our families we served between the months of January, February, and March and calling them to check on how they are doing financially, mentally, and how they have been affected by COVID-19. As a side project, I have been putting together Excel spreadsheets of all these families’ struggles and finding a way to turn their situation into a success story to share with our board at PY-OCBF and to the community partners who make all of our efforts possible. One of the things that has really touched me while working with these families is how much of an impact this nonprofit organization truly has on family’s lives. I have spoken with many families who I just call to check up on and it turns into an hour call sharing about how much of a change they have seen in their child who went through our program. Further, they go on to discuss that because of our program, their children have a different perspective on the drugs they were using before and the group of friends they were hanging out with. Of course, the situation is different right now as everyone is being told to stay at home; however, there are those handful of kids who still go out without asking for permission, increasing the likelihood they might contract this disease and pass it to the rest of the family. We are working diligently to provide support for these parents and offering advice to talk to their kids in order to have a serious conversation with their kids so that they feel heard and validated. 

Although the novel Coronavirus has impacted the lives of millions of people not just on a national level, but on a global level, I feel that in my current position, it has opened doors for me that would have otherwise not presented themselves. Fortunately, I have been offered a full-time position at the Project Youth Orange County Bar Foundation post-graduation that I have committed to already. This invitation came to me because the organization received a huge grant for COVID-19 relief to offer to their staff and since I was already part-time, they thought I would be a good fit to join the team once mid-June comes around. I was very excited and pleased to be recognized for the work I have done at the office in front of all staff. I am immensely grateful for this opportunity. I will work even harder to provide for the community and to continue changing the lives of adolescents, who have steered off the path of success. I will use my time as a full-time employee to polish my resume, not forgetting that the main purpose of my moving to Irvine was to become a scholar and continue the education that my parents couldn’t attain. I will still be looking for ways to get internships with other fields within criminology. One specific interest that I have had since being an intern and a part-time employee in this organization is the work of the Orange County Coroner’s Office. I don’t exactly know what enticed me to find it appealing as many would say that it is an awful job in nature since it relates to death and seeing people in their worst state possible. However, I feel that the only way for me to truly know if I want to pursue such a career in forensic science will be to just dive into it and see where it takes me. 

I can, without a doubt, say that the Coronavirus has impacted me in a way unlike many others, and for that I am extremely grateful. As I continue working, I can also state that many people are becoming more and more hopeful as time progresses. With people now beginning to say Stage Two of this stay-at-home order is about to allow retailers and other companies to begin doing curbside delivery, many families can now see some light at the end of the tunnel.

Let’s Do Better

This time of the year is meant to be a time of celebration; however, it has been difficult to feel proud or excited for many of us when it has become a time of collective mourning and sorrow, especially for the Black community. There has been an endless amount of pain, rage, and helplessness that has been felt throughout our nation because of the growing list of Black lives we have lost to violence and brutality.

To honor the lives that we have lost, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Eric Garner, Oscar Grant, Michael Brown, Trayon Martin, and all of the other Black lives that have been taken away, may they Rest in Power.

Throughout my college experience, I have become more exposed to the various identities and the upbringings of others, which led to my own self-reflection on my own privileged and marginalized identities. I identify as Colombian, German, and Mexican; however navigating life as a mixed race, I have never been able to identify or have one culture more salient than the other. I am visibly white-passing and do not hold any strong ties with any of my ethnic identities, which used to bring me feelings of guilt and frustration, for I would question whether or not I could be an advocate for certain communities, and whether or not I could claim the identity of a woman of color. In the process of understanding my positionality, I began to wonder what space I belonged in, where I could speak up, and where I should take a step back for others to speak. I found myself in a constant theme of questioning what is my narrative and slowly began to realize that I could not base it off lone identities and that I have had the privilege to move through life without my identities defining who I am. Those initial feelings of guilt and confusion transformed into growth, acceptance, and empowerment.

This journey has driven me to educate myself more about the social inequalities and injustices that people face and to focus on what I can do for those around me. It has motivated me to be more culturally responsive and competent, so that I am able to best advocate for those around me. Through the various roles I have worked in, I have been able to listen to a variety of communities’ narratives and experiences, which has allowed me to extend my empathy to these communities while also pushing me to continue educating myself on how I can best serve and empower them. By immersing myself amongst different communities, I have been given the honor of hearing others’ stories and experiences, which has inspired me to commit myself to support and empower others.

I share my story of navigating through my privileged and marginalized identities in hopes that it encourages others to explore their own identities. This journey is not an easy one, and it is an ongoing learning process that will come with various mistakes. I have learned that with facing our privileges comes feelings of guilt, discomfort, and at times, complacency. It is very easy to become ignorant when we are not affected by different issues, but I challenge those who read this to embrace the discomfort. With these emotions, I have found it important to reflect on the source of discomfort and guilt, for although they are a part of the process, in taking the steps to become more aware of the systemic inequalities around us, understanding the source of discomfort can better inform us on how we perpetuate these systemic inequalities. If we choose to embrace ignorance, we refuse to acknowledge the systems that impact marginalized communities and refuse to honestly and openly hear cries for help. If we choose our own comfort over the lives of those being affected every day, we can never truly honor, serve, or support these communities.

I challenge any non-Black person, including myself, to stop remaining complacent when injustices are committed. We need to consistently recognize and acknowledge how the Black community is disproportionately affected in every injustice experienced and call out anti-Blackness in every role, community, and space we share. We need to keep ourselves and others accountable when we make mistakes or fall back into patterns of complacency or ignorance. We need to continue educating ourselves instead of relying on the emotional labor of the Black community to continuously educate us on the history of their oppressions. We need to collectively uplift and empower one another to heal and rise against injustice. We need to remember that allyship ends when action ends.

To the Black community, you are strong. You deserve to be here. The recent events are emotionally, mentally, and physically exhausting, and the need for rest to take care of your mental, physical, and emotional well-being are at an all time high. If you are able, take the time to regain your energy, feel every emotion, and remind yourself of the power you have inside of you. You are not alone.

The Virus That Makes You Forget

Following Jan. 1 of 2020 many of my classmates and I continued to like, share, and forward the same meme. The meme included any image but held the same phrase: I can see 2020. For many of us, 2020 was a beacon of hope. For the Class of 2020, this meant walking on stage in front of our families. Graduation meant becoming an adult, finding a job, or going to graduate school. No matter what we were doing in our post-grad life, we were the new rising stars ready to take on the world with a positive outlook no matter what the future held. We felt that we had a deal with the universe that we were about to be noticed for our hard work, our hardships, and our perseverance.

Then March 17 of 2020 came to pass with California Gov. Newman ordering us to stay at home, which we all did. However, little did we all know that the world we once had open to us would only be forgotten when we closed our front doors.

Life became immediately uncertain and for many of us, that meant graduation and our post-graduation plans including housing, careers, education, food, and basic standards of living were revoked! We became the forgotten — a place from which many of us had attempted to rise by attending university. The goals that we were told we could set and the plans that we were allowed to make — these were crushed before our eyes.

Eighty days before graduation, in the first several weeks of quarantine, I fell extremely ill; both unfortunately and luckily, I was isolated. All of my roommates had moved out of the student apartments leaving me with limited resources, unable to go to the stores to pick up medicine or food, and with insufficient health coverage to afford a doctor until my throat was too swollen to drink water. For nearly three weeks, I was stuck in bed, I was unable to apply to job deadlines, reach out to family, and have contact with the outside world. I was forgotten.

Forty-five days before graduation, I had clawed my way out of illness and was catching up on an honors thesis about media depictions of sexual exploitation within the American political system, when I was relayed the news that democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden was accused of sexual assault. However, when reporting this news to close friends who had been devastated and upset by similar claims against past politicians, they all were too tired and numb from the quarantine to care. Just as I had written hours before reading the initial story, history was repeating, and it was not only I who COVID-19 had forgotten, but now survivors of violence.

After this revelation, I realize the silencing factor that COVID-19 has. Not only does it have the power to terminate the voices of our older generations, but it has the power to silence and make us forget the voices of every generation. Maybe this is why social media usage has gone up, why we see people creating new social media accounts, posting more, attempting to reach out to long lost friends. We do not want to be silenced, moreover, we cannot be silenced. Silence means that we have been forgotten and being forgotten is where injustice and uncertainty occurs. By using social media, pressing like on a post, or even sending a hate message, means that someone cares and is watching what you are doing. If there is no interaction, I am stuck in the land of indifference.

This is a place that I, and many others, now reside, captured and uncertain. In 2020, my plan was to graduate Cum Laude, dean's honor list, with three honors programs, three majors, and with research and job experience that stretched over six years. I would then go into my first year of graduate school, attempting a dual Juris Doctorate. I would be spending my time experimenting with new concepts, new experiences, and new relationships. My life would then be spent giving a microphone to survivors of domestic violence and sex crimes. However, now the plan is wiped clean, instead I sit still bound to graduate in 30 days with no home to stay, no place to work, and no future education to come back to. I would say I am overly qualified, but pandemic makes me lost in a series of names and masked faces.

Welcome to My Cage: The Pandemic and PTSD

When I read the campuswide email notifying students of the World Health Organization’s declaration of the coronavirus pandemic, I was sitting on my couch practicing a research presentation I was going to give a few hours later. For a few minutes, I sat there motionless, trying to digest the meaning of the words as though they were from a language other than my own, familiar sounds strung together in way that was wholly unintelligible to me. I tried but failed to make sense of how this could affect my life. After the initial shock had worn off, I mobilized quickly, snapping into an autopilot mode of being I knew all too well. I began making mental checklists, sharing the email with my friends and family, half of my brain wondering if I should make a trip to the grocery store to stockpile supplies and the other half wondering how I was supposed take final exams in the midst of so much uncertainty. The most chilling realization was knowing I had to wait powerlessly as the fate of the world unfolded, frozen with anxiety as I figured out my place in it all.

These feelings of powerlessness and isolation are familiar bedfellows for me. Early October of 2015, shortly after beginning my first year at UCI, I was diagnosed with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. Despite having had years of psychological treatment for my condition, including Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Retraining, the flashbacks, paranoia, and nightmares still emerge unwarranted. People have referred to the pandemic as a collective trauma. For me, the pandemic has not only been a collective trauma, it has also been the reemergence of a personal trauma. The news of the pandemic and the implications it has for daily life triggered a reemergence of symptoms that were ultimately ignited by the overwhelming sense of helplessness that lies in waiting, as I suddenly find myself navigating yet another situation beyond my control. Food security, safety, and my sense of self have all been shaken by COVID-19.

The first few weeks after UCI transitioned into remote learning and the governor issued the stay-at-home order, I hardly got any sleep. My body was cycling through hypervigilance and derealization, and my sleep was interrupted by intrusive nightmares oscillating between flashbacks and frightening snippets from current events. Any coping methods I had developed through hard-won efforts over the past few years — leaving my apartment for a change of scenery, hanging out with friends, going to the gym — were suddenly made inaccessible to me due to the stay-at-home orders, closures of non-essential businesses, and many of my friends breaking their campus leases to move back to their family homes. So for me, learning to cope during COVID-19 quarantine means learning to function with my re-emerging PTSD symptoms and without my go-to tools. I must navigate my illness in a rapidly evolving world, one where some of my internalized fears, such as running out of food and living in an unsafe world, are made progressively more external by the minute and broadcasted on every news platform; fears that I could no longer escape, being confined in the tight constraints of my studio apartment’s walls. I cannot shake the devastating effects of sacrifice that I experience as all sense of control has been stripped away from me.

However, amidst my mental anguish, I have realized something important—experiencing these same PTSD symptoms during a global pandemic feels markedly different than it did years ago. Part of it might be the passage of time and the growth in my mindset, but there is something else that feels very different. Currently, there is widespread solidarity and support for all of us facing the chaos of COVID-19, whether they are on the frontlines of the fight against the illness or they are self-isolating due to new rules, restrictions, and risks. This was in stark contrast to what it was like to have a mental disorder. The unity we all experience as a result of COVID-19 is one I could not have predicted. I am not the only student heartbroken over a cancelled graduation, I am not the only student who is struggling to adapt to remote learning, and I am not the only person in this world who has to make sacrifices.

Between observations I’ve made on social media and conversations with my friends and classmates, this time we are all enduring great pain and stress as we attempt to adapt to life’s challenges. As a Peer Assistant for an Education class, I have heard from many students of their heartache over the remote learning model, how difficult it is to study in a non-academic environment, and how unmotivated they have become this quarter. This is definitely something I can relate to; as of late, it has been exceptionally difficult to find motivation and put forth the effort for even simple activities as a lack of energy compounds the issue and hinders basic needs. However, the willingness of people to open up about their distress during the pandemic is unlike the self-imposed social isolation of many people who experience mental illness regularly. Something this pandemic has taught me is that I want to live in a world where mental illness receives more support and isn’t so taboo and controversial. Why is it that we are able to talk about our pain, stress, and mental illness now, but aren’t able to talk about it outside of a global pandemic? People should be able to talk about these hardships and ask for help, much like during these circumstances.

It has been nearly three months since the coronavirus crisis was declared a pandemic. I still have many bad days that I endure where my symptoms can be overwhelming. But somehow, during my good days — and some days, merely good moments — I can appreciate the resilience I have acquired over the years and the common ground I share with others who live through similar circumstances. For veterans of trauma and mental illness, this isn’t the first time we are experiencing pain in an extreme and disastrous way. This is, however, the first time we are experiencing it with the rest of the world. This strange new feeling of solidarity as I read and hear about the experiences of other people provides some small comfort as I fight my way out of bed each day. As we fight to survive this pandemic, I hope to hold onto this feeling of togetherness and acceptance of pain, so that it will always be okay for people to share their struggles. We don’t know what the world will look like days, months, or years from now, but I hope that we can cultivate such a culture to make life much easier for people coping with mental illness.

A Somatic Pandemonium in Quarantine

I remember hearing that our brains create the color magenta all on their own. 

When I was younger I used to run out of my third-grade class because my teacher was allergic to the mold and sometimes would vomit in the trash can. My dad used to tell me that I used to always have to have something in my hands, later translating itself into the form of a hair tie around my wrist.

Sometimes, I think about the girl who used to walk on her tippy toes. medial and lateral nerves never planted, never grounded. We were the same in this way. My ability to be firmly planted anywhere was also withered. 

Was it from all the times I panicked? Or from the time I ran away and I blistered the soles of my feet 'til they were black from the summer pavement? Emetophobia. 

I felt it in the shower, dressing itself from the crown of my head down to the soles of my feet, noting the feeling onto my white board in an attempt to solidify it’s permanence.

As I breathed in the chemical blue transpiring from the Expo marker, everything was more defined. I laid down and when I looked up at the starlet lamp I had finally felt centered. Still. No longer fleeting. The grooves in the lamps glass forming a spiral of what felt to me like an artificial landscape of transcendental sparks. 

She’s back now, magenta, though I never knew she left or even ever was. Somehow still subconsciously always known. I had been searching for her in the tremors.

I can see her now in the daphnes, the golden rays from the sun reflecting off of the bark on the trees and the red light that glowed brighter, suddenly the town around me was warmer. A melting of hues and sharpened saturation that was apparent and reminded of the smell of oranges.

I threw up all of the carrots I ate just before. The trauma that my body kept as a memory of things that may or may not go wrong and the times that I couldn't keep my legs from running. Revelations bring memories bringing anxieties from fear and panic released from my body as if to say “NO LONGER!” 

I close my eyes now and my mind's eye is, too, more vivid than ever before. My inner eyelids lit up with orange undertones no longer a solid black, neurons firing, fire. Not the kind that burns you but the kind that can light up a dull space. Like the wick of a tea-lit candle. Magenta doesn’t exist. It is perception. A construct made of light waves, blue and red.

Demolition. Reconstruction. I walk down the street into this new world wearing my new mask, somatic senses tingling and I think to myself “Houston, I think we’ve just hit equilibrium.”

How COVID-19 Changed My Senior Year

During the last two weeks of Winter quarter, I watched the emails pour in. Spring quarter would be online, facilities were closing, and everyone was recommended to return home to their families, if possible. I resolved to myself that I would not move back home; I wanted to stay in my apartment, near my boyfriend, near my friends, and in the one place I had my own space. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic worsened, things continued to change quickly. Soon I learned my roommate/best friend would be cancelling her lease and moving back up to Northern California. We had made plans for my final quarter at UCI, as I would be graduating in June while she had another year, but all of the sudden, that dream was gone. In one whirlwind of a day, we tried to cram in as much of our plans as we could before she left the next day for good. There are still so many things – like hiking, going to museums, and showing her around my hometown – we never got to cross off our list.

Then, my boyfriend decided he would also be moving home, three hours away. Most of my sorority sisters were moving home, too. I realized if I stayed at school, I would be completely alone. My mom had been encouraging me to move home anyway, but I was reluctant to return to a house I wasn’t completely comfortable in. As the pandemic became more serious, gentle encouragement quickly turned into demands. I had to cancel my lease and move home.

I moved back in with my parents at the end of Spring Break; I never got to say goodbye to most of my friends, many of whom I’ll likely never see again – as long as the virus doesn’t change things, I’m supposed to move to New York over the summer to begin a PhD program in Criminal Justice. Just like that, my time at UCI had come to a close. No lasts to savor; instead I had piles of things to regret. In place of a final quarter filled with memorable lasts, such as the senior banquet or my sorority’s senior preference night, I’m left with a laundry list of things I missed out on. I didn’t get to look around the campus one last time like I had planned; I never got to take my graduation pictures in front of the UC Irvine sign. Commencement had already been cancelled. The lights had turned off in the theatre before the movie was over. I never got to find out how the movie ended.

Transitioning to a remote learning system wasn’t too bad, but I found that some professors weren’t adjusting their courses to the difficulties many students were facing. It turned out to be difficult to stay motivated, especially for classes that are pre-recorded and don’t have any face-to-face interaction. It’s hard to make myself care; I’m in my last few weeks ever at UCI, but it feels like I’m already in summer. School isn’t real, my classes aren’t real. I still put in the effort, but I feel like I’m not getting much out of my classes.

The things I had been looking forward to this quarter are gone; there will be no Undergraduate Research Symposium, where I was supposed to present two projects. My amazing internship with the US Postal Inspection Service is over prematurely and I never got to properly say goodbye to anyone I met there. I won’t receive recognition for the various awards and honors I worked so hard to achieve.

And I’m one of the lucky ones! I feel guilty for feeling bad about my situation, when I know there are others who have it much, much worse. I am like that quintessential spoiled child, complaining while there are essential workers working tirelessly, people with health concerns constantly fearing for their safety, and people dying every day. Yet knowing that doesn't help me from feeling I was robbed of my senior experience, something I worked very hard to achieve. I know it’s not nearly as important as what many others are going through. But nevertheless, this is my situation. I was supposed to be enjoying this final quarter with my friends and preparing to move on, not be stuck at home, grappling with my mental health and hiding out in my room to get some alone time from a family I don’t always get along with. And while I know it’s more difficult out there for many others, it’s still difficult for me.

The thing that stresses me out most is the uncertainty. Uncertainty for the future – how long will this pandemic last? How many more people have to suffer before things go back to “normal” – whatever that is? How long until I can see my friends and family again? And what does this mean for my academic future? Who knows what will happen between now and then? All that’s left to do is wait and hope that everything will work out for the best.

Looking back over my last few months at UCI, I wish I knew at the time that I was experiencing my lasts; it feels like I took so much for granted. If there is one thing this has all made me realize, it’s that nothing is certain. Everything we expect, everything we take for granted – none of it is a given. Hold on to what you have while you have it, and take the time to appreciate the wonderful things in life, because you never know when it will be gone.

Physical Distancing

Thirty days have never felt so long. April has been the longest month of the year. I have been through more in these past three months than in the past three years. The COVID-19 outbreak has had a huge impact on both physical and social well-being of a lot of Americans, including me. Stress has been governing the lives of so many civilians, in particular students and workers. In addition to causing a lack of motivation in my life, quarantine has also brought a wave of anxiety.

My life changed the moment the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the government announced social distancing. My busy daily schedule, running from class to class and meeting to meeting, morphed into identical days, consisting of hour after hour behind a cold computer monitor. Human interaction and touch improve trust, reduce fear and increases physical well-being. Imagine the effects of removing the human touch and interaction from midst of society. Humans are profoundly social creatures. I cannot function without interacting and connecting with other people. Even daily acquaintances have an impact on me that is only noticeable once removed. As a result, the COVID-19 outbreak has had an extreme impact on me beyond direct symptoms and consequences of contracting the virus itself.

It was not until later that month, when out of sheer boredom I was scrolling through my call logs and I realized that I had called my grandmother more than ever. This made me realize that quarantine had created some positive impacts on my social interactions as well. This period of time has created an opportunity to check up on and connect with family and peers more often than we were able to. Even though we might be connecting solely through a screen, we are not missing out on being socially connected. Quarantine has taught me to value and prioritize social connection, and to recognize that we can find this type of connection not only through in-person gatherings, but also through deep heart to heart connections. Right now, my weekly Zoom meetings with my long-time friends are the most important events in my week. In fact, I have taken advantage of the opportunity to reconnect with many of my old friends and have actually had more meaningful conversations with them than before the isolation.

This situation is far from ideal. From my perspective, touch and in-person interaction is essential; however, we must overcome all difficulties that life throws at us with the best we are provided with. Therefore, perhaps we should take this time to re-align our motives by engaging in things that are of importance to us. I learned how to dig deep and find appreciation for all the small talks, gatherings, and face-to-face interactions. I have also realized that friendships are not only built on the foundation of physical presence but rather on meaningful conversations you get to have, even if they are through a cold computer monitor. My realization came from having more time on my hands and noticing the shift in conversations I was having with those around me. After all, maybe this isolation isn’t “social distancing”, but rather “physical distancing” until we meet again.

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Essay on My Quarantine Experience

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Quarantine Experience in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Quarantine Experience

Beginning of quarantine.

When the pandemic first hit, we were told to stay at home. This was called quarantine. At first, it was strange. Schools were closed. I could not meet my friends. I had to stay at home all day.

Adjusting to New Routine

Soon, I got used to the new routine. I started taking online classes. I could talk to my friends on video calls. I also helped my parents with house chores. It was a new way of life.

Learning New Skills

Quarantine gave me a lot of free time. I used this time to learn new things. I learned to cook. I also learned to play the guitar. I read many books. It was fun.

Missing Normal Life

Even though I was learning new things, I missed my old life. I missed going to school. I missed playing with my friends in the park. I wished for things to go back to normal.

End of Quarantine

250 words essay on my quarantine experience, starting quarantine.

In March 2020, my life changed a lot. A virus called COVID-19 started spreading all over the world. Because of this, everyone had to stay at home to be safe. This time at home is called quarantine.

My Daily Routine

During quarantine, my daily routine changed. I used to go to school, play with friends, and visit parks. But now, I stayed at home all day. I started studying online. I also helped my parents with house chores. It was a new and different experience for me.

Being at home gave me time to learn new things. I started cooking, painting, and even gardening. I also read a lot of books. It was fun to learn new skills.

Missing Friends and Family

The hardest part of quarantine was not meeting my friends and family. I missed playing and laughing with them. But we found a way out. We started talking and playing games online. It was not the same but it was better than nothing.

Understanding the Importance of Health

Quarantine made me realize how important it is to stay healthy. I started doing exercises at home. I also learned to eat healthy food. This made me feel good and strong.

Final Thoughts

500 words essay on my quarantine experience, starting my quarantine.

My quarantine experience started in March 2020 when the world began to fight a new virus called COVID-19. Schools, shops, parks, and almost everything else closed. We all had to stay at home to stay safe. It was a strange and scary time. But it was also a time to learn new things and find new ways to have fun.

Online School

One of the first changes was school. Instead of going to school, we started doing school at home on the computer. This was called online learning. I would log in every morning and do my classes on a video call with my teacher and classmates. It was different, but I still got to learn and see my friends.

Family Time

New hobbies.

Being at home also gave me time to try new things. I started learning how to draw, and I even tried to learn a new language. I also read a lot of books and watched a lot of movies. These new hobbies made the days go by faster and kept me busy.

Missing Friends

One of the hardest parts of quarantine was not seeing my friends. I missed playing and talking with them. But we found ways to stay in touch. We would have video calls and play online games together. It was not the same as being together in person, but it was still fun.

Staying Active

The end of quarantine.

After many months, things started to get better. Shops and parks started to open again, and I even got to go back to school. It was a relief to see things getting back to normal. But I also felt proud. I had made it through a tough time and learned a lot along the way.

In conclusion, my quarantine experience was a mix of good and bad. It was hard to not see my friends and to have to stay at home all the time. But I also learned new things, spent time with my family, and found new ways to have fun. It was a time I will never forget.

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