It has been more than a whole year of everyone being trapped in a worldwide quarantine. Many activities have been changed in a way to fit the lockdown, such as learning in school virtually. However, aside from school, students have had limited amounts of extracurricular activities they could do online, leaving teens with more spare time. With excess time comes boredom, and I certainly ran out of things to do, especially during the early stages of quarantine. However, I’ve learned and developed new hobbies that have made me overcome this boredness and am now using this spare time wisely.
I have expanded my comfort zone with activities that I pursued over the course of quarantine. Some things that I have been participating in include learning the guitar, starting to work out, and even learning a new language. Although these hobbies may seem small, they have served the purpose of occupying my time. I am very satisfied with myself when I know that I am being productive, and starting to do these things as habits has made me feel busy all the time. There are many other small things that I do now that I used to not have the time for, such as going for a little bike ride every day. Doing all of these small activities daily has made me realize how much time I actually have, and it’s pushed me to fill that time up efficiently. However, just because I try to pursue new things, it does not mean that I have discarded all of my old activities. I still use some of my free time to participate in the activities that I’ve always loved, such as playing board games with my family or playing games with friends. I truly value the people around me, as they have been a huge part of not only getting through quarantine, but generally my life as well. I am very thankful that I was able to keep in touch with all of the people that I appreciate, and I continue to do so to this day.
Besides learning and developing new hobbies, quarantine has taught me a more significant lesson: being grateful for everything. I have lost so many things that I took for granted, being stuck, away from the outside world; communicating with peers, eating in restaurants, and being able to go to public places without any worry of getting a disease. Not having the opportunity to achieve these previous normalities has made me appreciate them even more. I learned to try to make an effort to do these things safely, such as being active with friends virtually, or ordering food in from different diners, to feel as if we are eating at those places. The things that were believed to be insignificant end up becoming the big things, and that is what I believe has been keeping me going while in quarantine.
Andrew Chung, Grade 9
Los Osos High School
