By: Joshua Choe, Staff Writer
Life has pretty much always been centered around physically being around other people; it’s how it’s meant to be. School with classmates, work with your coworkers, going about daily business in-person are a few activities among many that require you to be with other people in real life. Now, back in February of 2020, everyone’s lives took a hard turn for the worse. COVID was the prominent root of nearly everything in society coming to a near complete halt for a few weeks, including work, businesses, and education. After that short period of lulling blankness from the very world itself, we all found everything having moved online. Adjusting to school in this new setting would be a whole new experience for educators and students alike.
The first few months of quarantine were the best I’ve had during the duration of COVID itself. There was barely any workload at all and everyday was just an easy vacation with no worries. Of course, I didn’t have any idea of how tiring this would be yet. Summer passed by and it was still a bliss. We would go biking every weekend in groups as large as 10 people and go far places to eat food and walk around new places. I would also have friends to text and call with anytime I felt like it, especially with a really, really close friend. On days we didn’t go out, we’d get on calls and watch movies late into the night, play games, and just talk. I would stay out until midnight with my dog listening to music.
Transitioning from summer to the first few months of high school was a breeze. Every teacher was super lenient and I felt happy with the minimal work and the fact that I didn’t have to be in a classroom around other people. My work ethic from middle school had carried on and that meant all my work was finished quickly and efficiently. I never had any problems with procrastination and work loads, although adjusting to working online was a bit of a challenge at first. Of course that would change over the next few months of highschool, from December onwards. Reports of depression, stress, and being worn out among students began around this time. But for now, I was comfortable and these few months were something I’d even go as far as to call the best months of my life.
Around January of this year, to March, work increased, teachers became more strict and I was settling into a normal school routine again. I found that my work ethic was declining however, as well as admittedly my span of attention to my Zoom classes. Homework was pushed to days before due dates and I lost sleep by trying to get the assignments in on time. My friends seemed to lose interest in hanging out on the weekends and though we continued biking, less people went. Friends that I used to text a ton, I fell out with. I didn’t take my dog out as much as usual and I came back home early. The effects from the reports of stress and hardship were starting to affect me. I started noticing that the days were blurring together.
The last few months however, are something I definitely can call a struggle; I found that I couldn’t keep that up, however. I was finally feeling what almost every other student in the nation was and some are still feeling under quarantine. My assignments were pushed to the literal hours and even minutes before they were due and I found myself watching YouTube or being on my phone during class. Everyday was a headache and I was losing sleep so I was constantly tired and this meant a loss of attention and energy to do work. Biking has pretty much come to a stop and there doesn’t seem to be any plans to resume this activity for a long while either. I pretty much only have one friend that I text and even though that friend was the closest I’ve ever had, we fell out to the point that we constantly argued and had fights. I find myself constantly wishing for life to be like it was last year. On top of everything, I also started stressing over my future and how it’ll go, whether it’s school, a job, my social life, and generally everything. The only way I’ve been coping was by playing games with friends on call. I feel as if I haven’t retained much knowledge from school this year either. I can’t wait until summer and I truly, truly wish that it will be like last summer, where I can say that I didn’t have a worry in the world.
Reflecting over my past few months, I definitely changed. From the usually energetic person I was, I find that I barely have the energy or willpower to go on walks with my dog or even do things as simple as getting on a call with my friends. I find that I stress over work and whatever responsibilities I have such as chores at home. Maybe this is a natural phase of growing up and maturing as a teenager, however, I don’t feel that is the truth. I see teenagers across the nation experiencing pretty much all the things I’ve gone over. But as far as I can see, we will definitely pull through, by reflecting on our own experiences which are most likely similar to the ones that I experienced, I wholly believe that we will all come out on top.
