By Charlotte Reynolds, Grade 6
If you had told me at the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year that I would live through a pandemic, I would have laughed in your face and said that that was crazy. Then I would have probably started to overthink what you said. I would wonder if it was true. I would wonder if I would even be able to survive a pandemic.
So many things went wrong. It was difficult for many people to keep their spirits up, and it has made many people distraught and depressed. A hidden side effect of COVID, even for those who never contract the virus, is that it has made it very difficult to feel happy. Still, so many good things have come from having to quarantine.
Many people are miserable because they can’t see their friends and family. Although you cannot see family in person, you get to see them much more virtually. I normally would call my grandparents once every month, but now I call them much more often. I participate in zoom meetings with my extended family. It has made all of us realize how much we want to be together and caused us to find ways to be connected even though we can’t be in person.
Another interesting effect of this quarantine is that many people have a lot more time for leisure. Whether you wanted to go on runs twice a week, cook dinner every night, read a chapter of a book a day, or meditate a little bit every day, quarantine has given us more time for the things that we wanted to do but never had the time to enjoy.
One last benefit of the quarantine is that for many people it has opened their eyes. You never think that you will live through a pandemic. You never think that you will have to quarantine. It’s just something that you might read about in history class, yet here we are. We have to be strong and stay together through these tough times.
