Tanisha S., Hadley E. Watts Middle School
A New Meaning to Life
How can you get sick if you don’t know what you're getting sick from? It was just a normal week when we didn’t know much about this “new illness,” and frankly, many of us didn’t even really care, so long as it stayed out of our business. Though all of that changed when places and events started shutting down. Suddenly, we were back at home, sitting at our computers, looking at our new browser extension called “Zoom.” I had a mix of emotions running through me. We didn’t have to wake up early in the morning to go to school! (Yay!) However, everything was closing down. (Boo!) How long was this going to go on for? Will everything really go back to normal ever again?
After 3 weeks of online school, spring break finally came. However, it seemed like schools were the opposite of being ready to open back up and cases of “Covid” were spreading like wildfire, and don’t even get me started on the lack of toilet paper in stores! Anyways, this pandemic issue was escalating out of control. Plus, to make matters worse, we were going to be doing online school for the rest of the year!
Just like that, it felt like life was put on hold once again. However, the most negative thing was being in such a gloomy and depressed atmosphere. Many people were constantly bored and felt locked up. However, I had a different perspective about things.
I actually liked having this time with my family. Of course, it was definitely scary with a bad illness going around, but my family and I had a lot of time to try new things. My sister and I started making Tik Toks together, my mom and I started cooking healthier and more elaborate foods together, and my dad and I started playing board games with each other. It was honestly a breather from stressful, everyday life. Instead of being rushed to eat a quick breakfast and get to school in the morning, we could easily get a big, healthy breakfast. Instead of coming home from school and starting on our homework, we could have laid-back assignments to do when we please. Was this anybody’s choice to have going on? No, but it wasn’t so bad after all.
This was not all cupcakes and rainbows though. With the risk of getting sick from the coronavirus going around, many people, including myself, were getting paranoid and overcautious about everything. Personally, I don’t think that that’s going to change. Now that I’ve seen what’s out there, I might be overcautious and paranoid for a lot longer than I may have expected.
Thankfully, this whole experience hasn’t been only negative. The coronavirus pandemic has taught me so many things about sticking together with my family and always being grateful for everything that I have because really, it’s a lot more than what it seems.
