By Kayla Gochez

   Eat. Sleep. Wake up. Repeat. 

   This is what my life has consisted of the past month of being away from school. My days are on a monotonous repeat of the day before and the day before that and so on. 

  When social distancing initially began, I felt a sense of relief, being able to take this time to recharge myself and break away from the stress of school and life. I would sleep in as much as possible and binge watch Netflix shows to my heart’s content. I would relax in bed all day and snack on my favorite foods. Slowly though, I began to grow tiresome of the new routine I had created for myself. 

   I came to a realization that I have no idea when all of this is going to end. It could be days, weeks, months or maybe even a year from now. I decided that if I was going to have all of this time to myself at home then I should utilize it to my advantage. 

   I began to make a set schedule for myself and create tasks to do throughout the day. Doing this has brought some normalcy back into my life. I have always had a routine to follow, whether that be from school or my parents, but now that it’s gone, I have had to learn to implement that routine for myself.  

   COVID-19 has created a new reality for myself and millions of people throughout the world. I have had to adapt to the changes and accept the current circumstance our world is in. Now, what I dread the most is not being able to interact with my friends and family. I miss being surrounded by people and having a busy schedule.

  I remember myself wishing that high school and its many stresses would come to an end. I dreaded having to wake up early and write an in class essay running on only three hours of sleep. I detested the math tests I had to take and the all-nighters I would pull to memorize concepts. Now that there has been an abrupt stop to my high school routine, all of the things I dreaded doing are now things I wish I could worry about one more time.

   This predicament we are in has given me a newfound appreciation for life. All these years I have taken for granted being able to simply just live my life and interact with others. Although this pandemic is not something I wanted to happen, there are aspects of it that have made me view life through a different lense and for that I am grateful.