high school summers prepared me for quarantine
I remember when I was a sophomore, my parents had to work every day during the summer, leaving my sister and I at home alone most days during the week. I was about 15 at the time, so there was no way that I could drive anywhere, and I spent much of my time trying to find freelance art gigs online, watching youtube, and listening to music. I would play Pokemon Go almost every day, and bike/skate to the only places I was allowed to, Keehner Park and Kroger. I also ran cross country, and practice and conditioning would start during the second half of summer. I would have to miss the first two or three weeks of optional practice due to my family’s work schedule, but sometimes I would catch a ride to go to practice.
I think this reminds me a lot of how I operate now, in quarantine. It’s kind of isolating, but I really am used to it in a way. I had to find ways to fill my days and find things to do. I learned guitar then, and made art online, I even got really in tune with my spirituality, and took lots of hikes and walks at the park alone. Nowadays I haven’t had that much freedom in between classes, but I think I have a healthy way of coping with boredom now. I even actually am mentally mature and healthy enough to have a committed relationship, which really has helped me. I have friends that I talk to every day, ones that I really really enjoy, I didn’t quite have that in high school. I think in the end, I’m really thankful for the intense boredom I felt during summer as a younger high school student, and I feel like it prepared me for quarantine, the only difference being that now I actually have friends that I keep in touch with every day. I have served my time with my cellmate, boredom. We’re acquainted, and I know how to use him to my advantage in times like this, and I feel much less subject to him, and what he wants.