THE FIRST OF A SERIES OF JOURNALS, AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, A SET OF FUTURE PRIMARY SOURCES.
Rohin Buch
Head Of Health
When the news of the virus first broke weeks ago I thought that this would be a crisis that would pass quickly due to the technologically advanced world we live in. I had no idea this virus would be something so widespread, and as of yet, incurable. I didn’t expect that we would be stuck in our homes, schools closed and taking online classes with the possibility of not going back to school for the rest of the year.
To this end, when school closures were announced I was bewildered because I knew it could mean not seeing our friends, teachers, and peers in person for a long time. As well, I never expected for us to think about not having graduation, not going to prom and other hallmarks of one’s senior year in high school. I expected to be able to share my emotions with regard to college decisions with my peers in person… not over social media or text messages.
So, since quarantine orders were imposed I feel trapped in my home, especially since the order yesterday or the day before about parks, lakes and trails being closed… those being the only places I could go while in self-quarantine. Now a normal day looks like waking up whenever, although now that school has started it will be a more scheduled time. Waking up was followed by a nice warm mug of coffee and some cereal, or waffles, and then followed by getting ready and then watching TV or studying for APs. Usually, at least before school started, a normal day would consist of all this which I have mentioned plus getting yelled at by my mom at least three times a day, saying “ROHIN, DO SOMETHING BESIDES WATCHING NETFLIX!”
One thing I am grateful for, due to the virus, is the break we have received from the hustle-bustle of school, work, home, and repeat. This crisis, while having provided me with some much needed R&R and a break, as I mentioned, has made me realize how much I value my relationships with my friends and what it means to see them each day. While I haven’t seen my friends in the last three weeks, I can definitely say our relationship has not changed as much as shifted on to more of a social-media based relationship. That is to say that this crisis has made me realize how fortunate we are to have social media, but also it has made my relationships with my friends become something less than they were before, being that I can only talk to them over text or chat or Snapchat photos, and not face to face.
On the other hand, this crisis has changed my relationship with my family by strengthening them; because we have been stuck in the house all day together for the last two weeks, we have grown closer and gotten to spend more time in each other’s company, another thing I am grateful to this crisis for providing because otherwise, we would still be caught up in all of our busy schedules and not have enough time to spend with each other. It is hard to say exactly what I am doing to take care of myself in this time as my contact with the outside world is greatly limited and because I do not see my friends, teachers, and peers every day it makes it harder as each day passes. However, what I have been doing for myself has been taking a much-needed break, as I mentioned before, and not thinking too hard about the implications this crisis has on myself or on our school community as a whole.
What I wish others knew about my experience is that staying cooped up at home with the same people at home is getting hard to bear and all I want—more than anything—is to see my friends and to have fun with them. I wish I could do the things I planned on doing if I was in school—going to Tijuana on the weekend to see a friend and get my nails done or getting Starbucks with my friend after school or even robotics, where I see my friends but also have fun at the same time. I feel locked up, and confined to nothing but me and my feelings, and that is an immensely hard thing to deal with for me because to be completely honest I use my friends as a way to forget my feelings and not think about all my problems—something I can’t do right now.
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