One day, I was walking from E-Building to the Cafeteria. I remember looking on my phone. I was doing what I usually did during that time, which was scrolling through Instagram, checking up on the latest news. It was then when I first encountered the news about the coronavirus. At that time, the virus was just spreading through China. I remember thinking to myself, “Those poor people!” I have been to China once because of a storm that kept our flight from continuing right away to Thailand. I knew how crowded it was and understood how quickly the virus would escalate. Though, for some reason, I thought the virus would just stay over there. It never crossed my mind that the coronavirus would escalate into the pandemic it has become today. 

Now, here we are. Schools are out, and everyone is in quarantine. Everyone is left trying to adapt to the new environment and safety procedures. My family has two disabled people that have weak immune systems, so we take the safety precautions very seriously. With my mom working, we have to make sure all of us are safe from any bacteria that we might be exposed to. The outbreak has also affected my sister and my schooling. Most of our schooling is moved online or is given through enrichment packets. I am not worried about that change because I was cyber schooled from sixth grade to eighth grade. I am pretty used to doing school on the computer. Though, I am worried about the classes that I take that are based around in-class participation. For those classes, I take it upon myself to continue my learning and get ahead. I go on sites like Khan Academy and get free tutoring to continue my learning. I realize that there is only so much the schools can do, and I know that I have to take it upon myself to stay on track.

During quarantine, I find that I have a lot of downtime. I use that time to self-reflect on the last two weeks of school and find out what I can improve on.  I use the time to increase my emotional awareness and gain a higher emotional intelligence. I want to rewire my thinking towards a positive route. The time that has been given to me now is basically my time to reflect and start over. I am using it to find myself and restore parts of myself that were broken down by others. Through this time, I hope I will find my inner strength and know where I stand in life. That way, I can come back stronger than ever.

I have mentioned this to others, but I think I have to say this again. Not only is this a curse, but it is a blessing. It is crucial to realize the importance of the time that has been given to us and use it to get us into an overall mindset. Right now, all of us are frozen in time with a belief. It is the belief of avoiding what we usually do to make the virus fade.  Though, our time won’t stay frozen forever. Enjoy your time alone, but use it wisely. That way, you know how to continue life when time isn’t frozen anymore.