A Day in the Life of a QuaranTEEN

By Cara Sheets

20 years from now, some kid is going to have to do a school project on COVID- 19. Below is my average day in quarantine, including common thoughts, worries, and random things I do to stay busy. My hope is that this can provide a more personal account of what quarantine is like for a fellow burnt-out student in the future.

9:00 am- It’s a weekday, so I sent my alarm for 9:00 am in hopes that this will create some kind of weekly routine. Usually, I lay in bed for a good twenty-thirty minute and think about Coronavirus. I have a nice little sad fest, but then eventually I pull myself out of bed and go brush my teeth. I weigh myself because I’m trying to not gain the quarantine fifteen.

10:00 am- I’m probably downstairs making myself breakfast at this point. My dog is very happy to see me. She loves that we’re all home. I scroll through Instagram until there’s nothing new to look at. I send my Snapchat streaks, and I pull out my computer.

11:00 am- It’s peak Zoom time. My teachers use this platform to offer at least a little face-to-face instruction. I love Zoom meetings because I get to see my classmates and friends. It’s one of my favorite parts of the day. One thing I do struggle with is my internet connection. I live in the middle of nowhere, so my wifi isn’t ideal. The weak-link and my biggest grievance with online education is that not everyone’s technological capabilities are the same.

12:00 pm- Zoom is usually done by now, and I work on homework for a couple of hours. My teachers try their best to continue with their teaching, but even they acknowledge that online school isn’t great. During this time, I’m usually thinking a bunch of dumb whiny thoughts like: “This is stupid! I’m a senior!" Gov. Mike DeWine said I fulfilled my graduation requirements !>:(.” If I don’t have much homework and the weather is nice, I’ll go on a walk with my mom.

2:00 pm- It’s time for Wine with DeWine! (That’s what the Facebook moms call it) Gov. DeWine talks for two hours about the Coronavirus, joined by my hero with the world’s most soothing voice: Dr. Amy Acton. I used to watch this every day, but now it makes me sad and stressed. I just read the highlights later. My mom watches it religiously.

4:00 pm -It feels like it is 4:00 pm all the time. My brother and I will drive out to our church and stock up the Blessing Box outside with canned goods. During the next two hours, I’ll try to do something constructive like play the piano, read, or exercise. I’ve been getting into running on the treadmill in hopes of staying in shape, and I gotta say…. I hate it. I guess if my cardio is better, my lungs will be more apt to handle this devastating lung disease! #positivethinking

6:00 pm- Dinner time! My family eats dinner together, and we chat about online school, the news, and of course everyone’s favorite- COVID-19! When I celebrated my birthday in quarantine I banned this topic during birthday dinner :). Dinner is one of my favorite parts of the day because my whole family comes together. We’ve also all been getting really into cooking and baking during this time.

7:00 pm- After a very amiable dinner, it’s suddenly a cutthroat competition for the wifi. It can’t support many devices, so there’s often a squabble between my brother, who wants to play Fortnight, and those who want to watch Netflix (re: everyone else).

8:00 pm- A couple of times a week my Spanish class watches a Telenovela called “Gran Hotel.” We use the Chrome extension, “Netflix Party” so we can watch it in real-time together. There’s even a chat bar on the side so we can comment on the show as we watch. If I’m not doing this with my class, I might FaceTime my friends, or watch “The Great British Baking Show” with my parents.

10:00 pm- My parents usually go to bed around now, and my brother and I will watch something, or I’ll read while he games. By now, my screen time has probably reached an ungodly amount. Social media serves as a distraction from quarantine’s boredom and anxiety.

11:00 pm- Sad girl hours! I usually go to bed around this time, but I’ll lay awake for a while thinking about everything that’s going on. I miss my friends. I worry about my grandparents and my dad who is a healthcare worker. I wonder if I’ll go to college this fall, or if I’ll struggle through online education for another year. This is my least favorite time of day because I’m left alone with my thoughts. There’s nothing to distract me when I’m alone and trying to fall asleep. Eventually, I slip away into a dream. I’ll wake in the morning to another day much like this one.