Jess R, May 2020
If I were to sum up my quarantine experience in one sentence, I would have to say this: you never know how much you miss something until you can’t have it anymore. I am talking to you, a class of 2070 student, who is hopefully reading this without any fraction of a worry about how the Corona virus will affect your life, your loved ones, and especially your own health. Although I am only 17 years old, I would never have expected to live through a time where the world stops, comes together, and shares a commonality of struggling with the same problem. It feels as if the world stopped turning for a moment, and we all collectively as humans are trying our hardest to get it to spin again, because it affects every single one of us in one way or another. I never knew how much I needed the little things in life before the outbreak hit. You hear the common saying “don’t take the little things for granted” and you say you won’t, but you do. I took those moments for granted, at least. I never knew how much the times I hardly thought about and moments I let fly by would mean to me when I couldn’t relive them, or didn’t know when I would be able to again. I promise you, whoever you are, that every moment matters, even the ones you don’t think twice about. I’m talking about being able to hug your friends when they need it, going outside without thinking about if you brought your mask, and I hate to say it, but you’d even miss stressing over the math test you have tomorrow at school. It’s all of these moments, the good and the bad, that shape who you are and provide you with the memories you’ll look back on when you’re older. I won’t lie, half of the weekdays I dreaded waking up for school. Once I got there, I’d sit in the middle of class and stare down the clock, counting down every single minute we had left until the bell would ring and I could leave. I can full heartedly say that I would take all of these days back, the good and the ugly, in a heartbeat. I miss my friends, my teachers, my coworkers at my job I can’t go to anymore, and even my classmates who just filled up the seats around me. Their energy, as well as everyone else's around me on a daily basis, were more important than I realized. It's not the always the interaction with others that matter, but the ability to be around them if you wanted. I’m living in a time where the people I see is so limited, that I’ve come to understand how necessary it is to surround yourself with all kinds of people, whether you know them personally or not. People need human connection, which is something everyone in the world is lacking right now. I truly hope that you, whoever is reading this, has that option to be around others and is taking advantage of it. I promise you that once you don’t have that choice anymore, it’ll be all you want. Just remember to never take the little things in life for granted, because you never know when you’ll get them back.
If I were to sum up my quarantine experience in one sentence, I would have to say this: you never know how much you miss something until you can’t have it anymore. I am talking to you, a class of 2070 student, who is hopefully reading this without any fraction of a worry about how the Corona virus will affect your life, your loved ones, and especially your own health. Although I am only 17 years old, I would never have expected to live through a time where the world stops, comes together, and shares a commonality of struggling with the same problem. It feels as if the world stopped turning for a moment, and we all collectively as humans are trying our hardest to get it to spin again, because it affects every single one of us in one way or another. I never knew how much I needed the little things in life before the outbreak hit. You hear the common saying “don’t take the little things for granted” and you say you won’t, but you do. I took those moments for granted, at least. I never knew how much the times I hardly thought about and moments I let fly by would mean to me when I couldn’t relive them, or didn’t know when I would be able to again. I promise you, whoever you are, that every moment matters, even the ones you don’t think twice about. I’m talking about being able to hug your friends when they need it, going outside without thinking about if you brought your mask, and I hate to say it, but you’d even miss stressing over the math test you have tomorrow at school. It’s all of these moments, the good and the bad, that shape who you are and provide you with the memories you’ll look back on when you’re older. I won’t lie, half of the weekdays I dreaded waking up for school. Once I got there, I’d sit in the middle of class and stare down the clock, counting down every single minute we had left until the bell would ring and I could leave. I can full heartedly say that I would take all of these days back, the good and the ugly, in a heartbeat. I miss my friends, my teachers, my coworkers at my job I can’t go to anymore, and even my classmates who just filled up the seats around me. Their energy, as well as everyone else's around me on a daily basis, were more important than I realized. It's not the always the interaction with others that matter, but the ability to be around them if you wanted. I’m living in a time where the people I see is so limited, that I’ve come to understand how necessary it is to surround yourself with all kinds of people, whether you know them personally or not. People need human connection, which is something everyone in the world is lacking right now. I truly hope that you, whoever is reading this, has that option to be around others and is taking advantage of it. I promise you that once you don’t have that choice anymore, it’ll be all you want. Just remember to never take the little things in life for granted, because you never know when you’ll get them back.