“QUARANTHINGS: Stay positive but not in Covid”
We have been in this unusual lifestyle for more than a year now. Studies, work and leisure are all done from our home. No big gatherings, no parties, no events, and no Christmas shopping at tiangges and crowded malls. To be honest, I have positive and negative thoughts in my quarantine life. We all struggled to adapt to the new normal during the first wave of quarantine. It's difficult to see my friends and family only through a screen, and the only way I can go outside is to buy necessities. I'm sick of it. The old world, the outside world, is something I miss. Making Tik Tok videos and scrolling via social media are the only things that keep me entertained. However, social media also contains negative news about the world. The only way to stay in touch with people I care about and keep them up to date on our lives is through social media.
There are days when I have a nervous breakdown and have no idea why. It's exhausting. Particularly in the first week of online class, I decided to create a routine for myself in order to feel as though I were still in school. I began doing things that I had never had time to do before, such as opening my curtains, making my bed, slowly getting dressed, and so on. But it changes when time passes. I can’t handle this too much gadget radiation. Moreover, there are times that I really want to listen and learn from our professor but our internet is not cooperating. The coronavirus pandemic threw almost every part of school at once. It wasn't just about the transition from chalkboards to computers. But also, how to discipline the students. Imagine waking up two minutes before classes without taking a bath nor brushing my teeth. It’s not the usual me. Before this invisible enemy has engulfed the entire world, I always made myself productive every morning but due to the mind-set that my classmates and professors will not smell me nor can see me (if I choose to close my camera), this tolerates me to become unproductive.
Like other students, I also want academic break. The schoolwork is very exhausting. My eyes and back are also in desperate need of a rest. My thoughts need to be refreshed as well. We are still dealing with the effects of the pandemic, and schools should not add to the pressure on students. One of the reasons I want an academic break is that it relieves stress for us students. College is exhausting, without academic break, students will be unable to recover from the pressures of the online class. We students, too, are overburdened with schoolwork, and this academic break will go a long way toward refreshing our minds from the stressful world.
Furthermore, this is the very first time that we celebrate Christmas in a pandemic. The celebration for Christmas in a pandemic is unusual. While online simbang gabi is still available, there is still a cultural shift caused by this pandemic. One of the famous Filipino cultures that I practiced was eating Puto Bumbong and bibingka after the mass. This made me realize how this health crisis changes our Christmas culture. I miss the cool breeze of air while walking to church, I miss Christmas family gatherings, I miss buying gifts at the mall or tiangges, I miss Christmas parties with my friends and classmates, I miss everything we used to do before Christmas.
As the time passed by, there were certain aspects of this quarantine that I did not anticipate enjoying. Aside from making Dalgona coffee and following the latest Tik Tok dance trends. Quarantine has taught me things about myself that I would never have learned otherwise. It's also good to step away from life once in a while. I can honestly say that having a life slowdown has helped me take better care of myself. It taught me that having some leisure time isn't always a bad thing. I started to adore this quarantine set up; for example, in my online class, I don't have to get up early or travel two or more hours to get to class. And even if I'm at the grocery store purchasing necessities, I can attend lessons. I've always despised getting free time because I felt obligated to do something useful about it. Now that I think about it, I actually enjoy getting free time to do whatever I want, even if it isn't the most productive thing I might be doing. I appreciate taking this opportunity to focus on myself and improve my mental health.
