Hi!! My name is Anaya B. and I’m 15 years old. I’m from the Bay Area in California. My favorite book right now is Caraval by Stephanie Garber; I recommend it to almost everyone I meet. I’m loving this show called The OC, it’s a great quarantine binge. I dream of being a psychiatrist when I grow up, preferably with my own private practice. I’ve always wanted to travel to France and Japan. I’m passionate about social justice, music, and lots of different art forms. The thing I miss most about pre-quarantine is being able to see my friends, both at school and outside of it. It’s really hard sometimes to spend time with the same people (my parents) day after day after day. I’m involved in a few extracurriculars, including my school’s mental health club (it’s called BringChange2Mind), its straight and gay alliance club (we call it SAGA), and dance outside of school.
So far, quarantine has been okay. It’s not the most fun thing ever; there isn’t much to do, I can’t see anyone, and I don’t have a lot of meaningful activities/involvements to preoccupy me. However, I recognize that it could be so much worse for me so I try not to take anything for granted. Additionally, remote learning created a number of challenges for me. My school didn’t host mandatory Zoom lessons, so I went from having the same structure and routine to no routine at all. It was difficult at first, especially since I felt frustrated that I wasn’t really learning anything, but I eventually got used to it and found my own ways to cope with the sudden and drastic change in learning environments. It was also definitely beneficial to have support from my teachers and classmates who were all going through the same thing.
We can all agree that the effects of this pandemic have been tragic and devastating for so many people. While acknowledging that, it’s also okay and potentially really helpful to appreciate any personal growth we might’ve made so far as a result of this quarantine. Personally, I’m proud of what I’ve learned so far. I’m teaching myself to cook and bake lots of different things, and that’s been a fun pastime for me. I’ve also been challenging myself to be more creative with music, and I’ve written a few piano pieces since quarantine started. Something I also noticed was that I’m strangely becoming much closer with some of my friends. I spend a significant amount of time every day texting and face-timing my friends, which is something I’m really grateful for. As I mentioned early, it has been hard in terms of the lack of structure in my life, but some days it truly can be nice to be free of responsibilities and obligations for a little while.
Something important to remember, at least in my opinion, is to be patient with yourself. This is so new to all of us, and it’s okay not to be okay all the time. Don’t beat yourself up if you aren’t reaching all of your quarantine goals, just try your best. And even not trying your best is okay too. It can be really difficult, and I’m speaking from personal experience, to be motivated and to have the energy to put effort into everything during this scary and confusing time. Have empathy and respect for yourself and others, and we’ll get through this together. While you’re here, please take a minute to look through the link I’ve attached toward the end of this paragraph. Inside you’ll find a multitude of resources to educate yourself and those around you and to help out with some of the issues that are going on in the world right now. It really doesn’t take much time and it’s so imperative, especially right now, that we all use our voices for good. https://issuesintheworld.carrd.co Thank you for reading!