Empty airports, restaurants and schools. Businesses are shutting down left and right. Coronavirus quarantine restrictions have changed millions of lives around the world. But what about the students in our community? How have their daily schedules changed? How are they adapting to this stark change in their life and in the world?
The students at Loudoun Valley High School all had one thing in common. A common theme among high school students involves sleeping a lot later and a lot more than usual.
“I’m sleeping a lot more and doing more outside and working out stuff,” freshman Ally Hubbard said. “And I’m spending a lot more time on homework than I normally would.”
Students like freshman Sam Hummer are adapting to their new lives and all the changes that are occuring.
“I’m just kind of letting it happen, and just taking it step by step,” Hummer said. “Spending time, just worrying about myself. Just trying to keep myself sane.”
These students describe, in five words, their feelings toward the quarantine. All three of them used very similar words like, weird, boring and different. Freshman Carly Hall used the word weird.
“Weird because it’s just everything’s changed,” Hall said. “It’s difficult to like adjust to so it’s kind of weird for all of us.”
Hubbard described this quarantine as repetitive.
“I wake up and do the same things every day,” she said.
During these difficult times, students are looking at the silver lining. For example, Hall is paying attention to how the environment is being positively impacted. So is Hubbard.
“The environment is doing better,” Hubbard said. “There’s not as much smoke or anything, obviously, and the waters are getting clear, like in Italy.”
Lots of colleges are sending students home early, so siblings and families are reuniting.
“My siblings would normally have been at college this whole time,” Hubbard said. “so we have been spending a lot of time together.”
Not only has quarantine helped these students find the good in the bad, but they have also learned things about themselves.
“One thing I learned about myself is how much I liked [going to] school,” Hummer said.
Hubbard agreed.
“I have realized that I am a very social person and I enjoy being with a lot of people,” Hubbard said.
A lot of students have found they are more socially reliant than they first thought.
“I feel like I procrastinate a lot more than I thought,” Hall said. “Which is weird to say because I knew I already did, but it’s a lot worse now.”