Students’ Ways of Getting Through the Pandemic

Cora Ely, Editor

For Olivia Till, quarantine brought experiences that were very different from normal life. Feelings and emotions about what was going on in their household and around the world were changing rapidly. 

“I would say that one word that describes how I’ve felt is hectic,” sophomore Olivia Till said. “Ever since the beginning of quarantine, something new happens every week. How am I supposed to keep up?” 

The most chaotic adjustment for Till was making her new Covid lifestyle work for her and her family. Even though staying up to date with things was hard for her, she found two people in her life, her sister and a friend, that helped her through these tough times. 

“They helped me get through quarantine by making it fun because they are both very entertaining,” Till said.  “Just keeping in touch and talking to me every day really helped.” 

Other students turned to sports and the outdoors to keep them occupied during quarantine. Doing this helped students stay busy during long days and make goals for themselves to get better at their sport or just become better and stronger people. 

That’s just what junior Cassey Piteira did. Her parents got a gym membership, and going there really helped her during quarantine. Pitiera was dealing with lots of anxiety during the pandemic and was struggling to find something to help her.

“When my parents got a gym membership, going there made me feel much better,” Piteira said. “I wasn’t dealing with a lot of anxiety when I started working out.” 

Senior Mathew Hessler focused on doing about the same thing that Piteira did, which was staying active to pass the long hours. 

“Every day I would either lift weights, run on the beach or surf,” Hessler said. “I tried to stay as active as I possibly could. It was hard to keep a good routine, but as the quarantine went on I got the hang of it.”

Other outdoor activities students would do were walks with family members or with pets, which is exactly what sophomore Elaina Dongieux did over her quarantine.

“My dogs were the best because they would keep me company,” Dongieux said. “I could also give them walks and play outside with them, which helped me get out of the house.”

Music was also an outlet for during this pandemic because everyone could access it. Anyone with a phone or computer can go online and find any song they want to listen to on a variety of sources. Music is a good way to connect to your state of mind and get more positive thoughts in your head. Sophomore Carly Hall knows a lot about this because music was what helped her the most during the pandemic.

“Music was the most effective because I could find a song that helped express my mood and how I was feeling,” Hall said. “That really helped me feel less alone during quarantine.”

Despite being in a global pandemic, students continued to find ways to keep themselves going through these rough times.

“I am trying to get better at not worrying about things,” Hessler said “and just taking life day by day.”