Day 3 of quarantine
Rebecca Beddingfield
Media Editor
6:30 I’ve chosen to keep waking up early during quarantine to get some time to myself before the rest of the world wakes up, so I get up and make myself a peanut butter and banana smoothie and change into my “day” sweatpants.
7:08 I finished getting ready for the day, and I went out on the porch to journal and watch the sunrise. To be honest, I was hoping for a more dramatic scene, but I looked up once and there was this splash of color, and I looked up again and the sky went gray, but sometimes beautiful things are only around for a short time, so I’m glad I looked up at the right time.
7:38 The sun is up, and I’m ready to work. I finish an English assignment and a thing for my math class, but none of my other teachers seemed to have more for me to do today so I tried to work ahead, but my school day was pretty short.
11:39 There is no way I’m getting any more work done at this point, I was already drifting off texting people of Messenger, so I start writing appreciation letters for the people in my life (its an anxiety coping tool I’ve been using for awhile), and I wondered if I was a supercarrier for Coronavirus and that I would infect people with my letters. Turns out, the virus doesn’t last longer than the quarantine on surfaces, so they should be safe when I hand them out *phew.*
12:00 I took my lunch break and watched an episode of “Love is Blind” on Netflix. I’ve never watched a reality dating show before, but it’s honestly a train wreck I can’t look away from.
12:42 Started an online volunteer training for the Red Cross. I recently joined after I found out I was ineligible to give blood because of my weight, which broke my heart because I know they really need that right now with the effects Coronavirus has on blood supply and I wanted to help in that capacity. Alas, I’m doing my best to gain some muscle weight and continuing to find ways I can help in the meantime.
1:45 I drove my mother and I down to Shinn Historical Park to get some fresh air and because I’ve actually never been there before today, which now sounds crazy because their garden is amazing, and there’s no bees in the winter so I could get really close to the flowers. We did have to do some strategic walking to make sure we didn’t bump into other people, but it overall wasn’t too crowded.
3:10 Back at home, school is over for the most part for me, so I start working on the Quarantine Update for the Eagle Era. I like to only talk and look at COVID-19 related material during this part of the day, because at the end of it all, I’m still going to work and accomplish a lot during this quarantine. I’m also messing around a little bit because the news articles are right next to my messenger tab.
5:30 Talked with my friend Meng, who helped me with an IT situation. I really appreciated the time because I have a lot of anxiety, included but not limited to social anxiety, so reaching out and talking to people is hard for me, but this friend always takes the effort to reach out, which I’ve really needed.
6:47 Dinner time! I’m really grateful that restaurants are still open for take out, because our groceries were delayed and the stuff we were supposed to make didn’t look fresh, so my family and I had a good conversation over some nice Thai food. I really enjoy this time getting closer to my family, even if our schedules aren’t quite syncing up.
7:48 So it’s a wrap on day 3 of the quarantine, and overall, it’s been a good day. I have it a lot better than many people in America, especially those who received their income from “non-essential” businesses that are closed and those affected by the virus who struggle to get tested. Overall, this experience has made me a more empathetic person, because before, every crisis was far away from me, but as Coronavirus comes closer I feel connected to it through the people I love who are at-risk. So I hope that when this blows over, I continue to respond with this new sense of empathy to situations that happen throughout the world, and that I can confidently say that COVID-19 brought out the best in me.
Eagle Era 