Well, this isn’t what I expected. As we enter the seventh week of quarantine and online school, my expectations so far have not been met. I never expected self-isolation to be so…isolating. When this journey started, I envisioned it to be a toned-down summer vacation. Yes, I realize how insensitive and dumb that sounds, but that’s just where my brain went. 

What is most disappointing is how I expected my mornings to unfold: I’d wake up and go to the gym in the morning for as long as I want. Later, I would have one of my very nice and unargumentative siblings drive me to a cool cafe I’ve been dying to try. Then, I would have been able to write about my day for The Lance—well that didn’t happen. 

Turns out—that all was just a dream. I can’t go to the gym AT ALL because all gyms are closed (even though it is for the safety of everyone, I’m still disappointed). And all cafes are closed; even my neighborhood Starbucks is closed. When Starbucks, a huge company that many people go to every day closes, you know the situation is really bad. 

But what almost disappoints me more than the gyms and cafes closing is online schooling. We had a good thing going at the beginning of the first week, but now I feel like I’m drowning in Edpuzzles and online assessments. Sadly, because of the pile of things I need to do, I end up waking up around the same time that in-session school used to start. I also have chores that my parents are making me do, something I somehow always block out doing during the summer and over the weekend.

On a more serious note, online schooling has made me realize some actual good things about regular school. Regular school allows me to get out of the house and away from the constant presence of my family. Online school is actually kind of isolating–Google Meets just aren’t the same thing. 

The only things I can count on are the numerous streaming services my family has acquired over the years. I have a pretty good routine down for that: I start on Netflix, rewatching Jane the Virgin, and when I get bored of that I go to Disney Plus and continue to watch all of the Marvel movies in order. After that, I try to watch some of the throwback Disney shows or movies. My last resort is going downstairs and watching HGTV with my parents. So, that’s some structure that I can actually rely on. 

Despite all of this, I feel the need to say that these steps that the community is taking will eventually pay off; they are necessary for preventing the continuation and spread of this pandemic. I know I sound very insensitive to this entire situation, but I am very wary of the virus. So, yes I know quarantine isn’t what we all wanted and anticipated, this quarantine is what will eventually allow everything to go back to normal. But….. it still sucks.