Hey Quaranteens! My name is Naiya G. and I am a 14 year old girl in New York. My favorite subject in school is English and currently I have a wonderful cat named Wolverina. Some of my passions include my art and my family. I've drawn since I was a little girl and it's always been a part of my life. I love drawing animals and people and seeing my progress as I continue learning. I am very passionate about my family because they have always been an important part of my life. I tell my parents almost everything and I am very happy and proud about our relationship. Along with that I am really close with my extended family and I love being around them. A few things that I miss from before quarantine include; the chaos of school, hugging my friends, being around lots of people, and the lack of awkwardness during exchanges with people.
Quarantine has been full of highs and lows for me. I am not confident to label myself as introverted or extroverted but I do identify as both at times. The introverted part of me enjoys being at home and is content drawing and reading all day. Obviously quarantine is perfect for those kinds of things and on days when I am feeling introverted I feel super energized and happy. However, on some days the extroverted part of me comes out and all I want to do is be with my friends and get out of my house. These days are especially hard for me and if I´m not super careful, days like those end with me crying and my mom taking me on an emergency drive so that I can simply get out of the house that I feel so trapped in. On days like that I feel very drained and sad. Even after months of this cycle I have been unable to identify what causes these changes in attitude and happiness but I assume it has something to do with how used I was to my routine before quarantine that satisfied both parts of me. Unfortunately even when school was happening I was unable to get the social aspect that I craved. My school used google meet and the platform was basic but good enough except for the fact that teachers could not make students turn on their cameras. Eventually more and more people began using the lame excuse that their camera was broken and soon enough even I didn't want my camera to be on since nobody else was. As a result classes were not engaging at all and so I hated waking up and logging on to class. Almost all of my extracurriculars were dropped except for art and I got to finish a project I am quite proud of.
During quarantine I have learned how dependent I am on physical touch and how much I enjoy being with my friends. Although I don't like being around my friends all the time, not seeing them for weeks at a time has been devastating. I've also learned how strong I am and how capable I am at adapting to challenges that I face and overcoming obstacles in my path. From what I've heard many kids my age are taking the changes much worse than me and I am proud of myself for staying as positive as I've been. What I've always known but never addressed about myself was my motivation and capableness and quarantine has helped me appreciate that about myself. What has kept me sane during this pandemic is probably a combination of my parents and my art. Nine out of ten times my parents are able to calm me down and listen to me in a kind, supportive way. When I don't feel like talking to my parents, art is a great creative outlet for me and helps me recognize my emotions and move on from them. Obviously this tactic isn't fool proof and I do have breakdowns but by taking care of myself many breakdowns can be avoided.
Before quarantine freedom meant hanging out with my friends, walking to school, spending my money on what I want, and taking care of my business. During quarantine freedom means socially distancing when having friends over, being trusted to go on walks alone, and suggesting solutions to issues that arise almost everyday. Along with that freedom is choosing how I want to spend my day and when I want to wake up and go to sleep. It also means facetimeing my friends and texting them with little to no consequence. Personally I wouldn't say I am someone that needs structure to thrive but the structure that includes interacting with people is definitely something I have been craving. Although I am getting along just fine making choices for myself and staying on task being with people is something irreplaceable.
Quarantine was a time that I really was able to discover who I am as a person. I broke up with my boyfriend, cut ties with toxic people in my life, cut down my screen time, and even dyed my hair. Quarantine has been a time of change but not all change is bad. I haven't drawn so much since I was five and I've never facetimed so much with friends in my life. I have been able to solidify my bonds with my family and be a lot more open to improving myself as a person. Although nothing about the things I mentioned above has been easy (except for dying my hair), it's all made me very happy and a lot more genuine. Although I wish all of this self improvement could have been under different circumstances I wouldn't trade it for the world. Here in New York restaurants are opening and stores are adapting to the new circumstances. Although it makes me super excited and optimistic, me and my family have agreed to take things a little slower than the rest of the world and observe before we move to go eat out and go into stores.
My advice for anyone reading this who is going through tough times is to remember all the people in your life. Although they aren't physically around you anymore I believe that these people have so much love for you and would love to connect with you. I think we can all agree that the lack of connection between people is all taking a toll on us as it should. People are supposed to be around people, it's human nature. Start a conversation. Talk about how much you miss everything. Shoot your shot. Make someone a care package. Whatever you do, connect with people however you can. Whether you think your strong enough people can make us stronger. And everyone could do with some strength right now. My last words for you are to remember that asking for help doesn't make you weak and any feelings you have right now are valid and correct. Take care of yourself, Quaranteens!