Dispatches from Quarantine:
Young People on Covid-19
Valencia Rose
April 29, 2020
Dear Journal,
I am writing under a pen name because if my journal pages happen to be seen in the future, I do not want anyone to know it was me. I want my story to be heard, but I would like to stay anonymous as much as possible. I now live in Ripley, New York, United States of America. I moved here in August of 2019 and it was a change. I only lived 30 minutes away from where I do right now but it is like living in a different world. We moved in with my father’s girlfriend and, well, it was awkward at first; it still is but the sad thing is it does not feel like home. I have my room and it is my sanctuary. I worked hard to make it perfect; it still is not perfect but I felt like I should not worry too much because I will be going to college in the fall.
I am a senior in high school, and it has been great except for the pandemic that broke out halfway through. That was rain on the parade, but sometimes you must dance in the rain. I haven’t really been in quarantine; the virus isn’t bad in my area so we are still able to go out and see friends in small groups. Technically speaking we are in a period of social distancing, but in theory I have been in quarantine for forty-seven days. It has been forty-seven days since March 13, the only Friday the 13th that I will validate because my life fell apart after that day. It has been an awfully long forty-seven days being here in my house but I have attempted to go with the flow and make it work.
Today is April 29, 2020. I woke up around 9:30 am thanks to my handy dandy alarm clock. I lay in bed watching videos and Netflix. I decided on Love, Rosie at about 11:30 after eating breakfast. This was not a smart idea since I had class at noon. I attended classes online between noon and one-thirty; I had a Holocaust studies class and virtual choir. They were not all that exciting seeing as I did not even change out of my pajamas or brush my hair. It is about three in the afternoon as I am writing today and there is a lot going on in my mind. Mainly, there are just thoughts about how much owed homework I have to get caught up on but there are other things like I want to take a nap, or the doctor’s appointment I have to wake up early for tomorrow. I was expecting to have school so I made it for 7:30 am so I would not miss my afternoon college classes. What a mistake that is now but who could have guessed we would be where we are now.
Some of my main concerns going forward as we are so far into this pandemic are:
Will I even get to walk across the stage to receive my diploma at graduation at the end of June?
Are my grandparents, who are all over 65, going to make it out of this pandemic alive?
Will I get to go to college in the fall, or will I be here in my room continuing online classes?
Do I still have a job at my local theater, although I did not start before businesses were shut down?
These are some of my biggest concerns right now, but there is a lot floating around in my head.
I was supposed to do so much traveling this year. Canada, Washington D.C., New York City, Cleveland. I was supposed to have my senior year of high school. PROM was supposed to be this Saturday. I would have had track meets every Tuesday and Friday until Memorial Day. I could have gone to sectionals this year. We were supposed to have Senior Skip Day, Senior Prank, our last Pep-Assembly, our last day of school. There were so many things that we will not have anymore.
Another thing is, why are teachers so worried about school? I understand it is important and we still need to get an education, but why aren’t we focusing on the core aspects of school? Do I really need to be getting a grade for choir or gym? I understand it is important to be fit and have well rounded interests but I don’t believe those are the important things at the moment. I am a bit of a pessimist because they have not announced anything yet but I do not see it happening. Once everything starts to open, people will start becoming more relaxed about masks and washing hands. There will be parties, groups bigger than 10 people, and all it will take is one sick person to close the country down again.
P.S. Today I decided to use my computer to journal but usually I use a paper journal. I probably will continue to use my computer for these.
Valencia Rose
