Dispatches from Quarantine:
Young People on Covid-19

Journal
April 30, 2020

I write this journal as I sit alone in my room and at my desk, listening to some Latin American music on spotify. Why Latin American hits? English songs are too distracting because I have a tendency to listen to the words, but the silence is even worse. Silence can be deafening, as the saying goes. I don’t know how long I have been quarantined, regardless, it is long enough for the isolation to about drive me insane.

Our last day of school was Friday, March 13th, so if you go by that date, it has been almost seven weeks. It has been seven weeks since I last went to school and saw many of the people I was conversing with on a daily basis. Seven weeks since my life radically changed in a matter of days. But I try not to count or look at the days, when I do that, it feels like an endless cycle of getting up, doing school work, eating, and then sleeping. I can hardly remember the days that have passed; they all feel the same to me. I just take it one day, one assignment, one step at a time.

Today was probably one of the more eventful days of my quarantine. In an effort to maintain some sense of routine and normalcy, I have been waking up at five every morning. (When we were still attending school, I was up every morning sometime between 3 and 5, most often it was around 4:00.) I love waking up early, being the first person in my house to wake up. I like hearing nature come to life as the birds begin their songs and the sun slowly rises. Lately, I wake up early and I’m not quite sure what to do with myself. I have nowhere to be, most classes don’t start until at least 9:00, and I don’t want to go downstairs and wake up the rest of my family, who wouldn’t call themselves morning people.

So I woke up like normal and followed my normal routine which includes waking my siblings, eating breakfast, and showering. However, today is April 30 and tomorrow is May first! May first is a hugely important date for high school seniors all over. I think it is even known as National Decision Day. It is the day that the many colleges require students to submit their decisions and deposits for enrollment and also the day that the majority of scholarships seem to be due. This means that I would get to leave the house (more than just a walk around the block, too). I grabbed my sister, my keys, my scholarships and off we went to drop off my scholarships at the school! It was just a quick trip, in fact, I was back by 10:00 for my class, but it was refreshing to leave the house. Even though I have to wear a mask when I go outside or check the mail at the post office which is about as suffocating as the isolation is, it is still worth it and I am just grateful I am allowed to occasionally leave my house.

I did homework and had google meets throughout the day for classes, like normal. Today my last class was over at 3:30. However, this didn’t mean I was free for the day, I still have to prepare my assignments and work for tomorrow, though Fridays tend to be easier.

As I noted earlier, this is my senior year in high school. It was supposed to be the best year yet. I had planned and prepared for this year for my entire life and it started out great, until late October. However, I have survived all of the trials and tribulations I have been faced with thus far. These things I have endured this year, one being the quarantine due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, have shown me my strength and have proven to myself that I can do it, likely an important thing I will need to remember in college.

As I noted above tomorrow is decision day for many colleges and I have finally solidified my plans for next year. I put this decision off for so long, partly because I had not yet received my financial aid packet for one of my colleges and partly because I was hopeful that with some stroke of luck, the quarantine would be over by May first. Choosing where I will go to school for the next four years feels like such a monumental decision that I had wanted to be able to speak to some of my teachers and my guidance counsellor at school before deciding. Quite honestly, I am afraid of making the wrong choice and I still am, but I have finally chosen, and what else is there to do now, but feel excited (and nervous)? Today I submitted a deposit and enrolled at the institution I will be spending the next four years learning. Today, I took one giant step toward my future, toward becoming a doctor and achieving my dreams.

Things are hard and chaotic. It has been seven weeks and I still don’t feel that there is really a routine or a sense of normalcy. But I try to keep things in perspective by thinking about the hospitals and the people who are sick, on ventilators or dying. I tell myself that it is for them that I remain quarantined, because at the moment and with my lack of medical training, staying indoors and trying to prevent the spread, is the only way I can help the sick. Besides, I often remind myself of the good, that things aren’t all that bad. This is the most time I have seen and spent with my family since the beginning of the school year. This year has brought us closer together and made me realize more than ever, that I can lean on my family and that they are here for me.

I write this journal and likely any additional journals on the chromebook computer that the school gave me so I could do my school work online and participate in our remote learning.

- Naomi Fisher