By Eliana Weinstein
Staff Writer
When school let out in March, I was scared that there may be nothing to do at home. Without going to school, taking part in extracurriculars, or even hanging out with friends, I became more and more frightened that without my busy lifestyle, I would slowly become lazy. On the first day of social distancing, I found myself pondering what I should do to keep busy at home. Although I did receive work the first day, I felt that my day was quite boring.
The first few days of the stay home order followed a very simple routine. I would sit by my screen and do work for at least two hours, not because of the workload, but because I had not much else to do, like many other Barrack students. Then I started brainstorming ideas of what to do to keep myself busy. I started taking more walks, playing board games with my sisters and even picked up a few new hobbies.
With more time at home, I began to notice there was more opportunity to learn new things. I am not the only one who had this realization; Asher Decherney ‘25 says, “With more time on my hands, I have been able to put more exercise into my day.” I also found I could take up learning and doing new things, like piano, and new sports in my backyard, such as lacrosse and frisbee. I now understand that I shouldn’t have been scared of staying home but rather excited about this opportunity to take on new interests.
Many students have expressed to me that being online for school five hours a day or more is very difficult. At the core, I think the best thing to do at this time is to learn something new. Do a task that you ordinarily wouldn't do, like talking to relatives, or learn to bake a new recipe, all of which can help make quarantine a useful and more productive time. Simple new skills will force you to not only stay busy but also to get off the screens for some possible quality time with your family, or to indulge in some needed self-care. Andy Jacoby ’24 said that “over spring break I took up biking, and after spring break I kept it up. Biking gave me something new to do and something to keep me sane.” As difficult as it may be at times, we should all try our best to use quarantine to our advantage.
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