by Jonah Sachs ’20

Day 15: Madness has begun to take its toll. There’s a reason they say that humans are social creatures by nature; I don’t know how much longer I can take social isolation. Having an immuno-compromised brother to look after in the family, I am subject to the most serious and thorough ‘social distancing’ that one could participate in: total isolation. Unlike a large portion of the world, contraction of this illness could be devastating for him… thus, we stay inside. Sure, I have my family to keep me company, but as the saying goes, fish, and company, stink after three days.

Thus far, I’ve occupied my time in a make-shift ‘schedule’ of sorts–complete with 10:30 a.m. wake up and several hours of wandering from task to task, wondering when I might be able to plan out the next few months and my entrance into college, if, by chance, I don’t begin my undergraduate education on my living room couch. I find myself in a daily loop, without a purpose and without a plan. If only we had been adamant about social isolation in the critical period of initial spread. If only they had been more careful in handling the exponential boom of the virus. Then, maybe, I’d be allowed outside with my friends, looking forward to the next few months when I can move away from home, beginning the rest of my life, as opposed to sitting inside, wondering what might happen in the days to come.