by Jackson Hongtong ’21

My daily schedule for the past few weeks has been the same. I wake up at around nine, watch Netflix for about an hour, and then eat breakfast. After that, I might go hop on video games, do homework (not really), or really just anything to pass the time. Then at noon, I get in the car and drive to my local middle school, where there is an open basketball court. I bring my speaker and play for hours alone and in isolation. Then I get back home, chill, eat dinner, and then chill again, and again, until finally I go to sleep. Simple. However, this wasn’t what it was like. Let’s rewind to around a month ago. 

I would wake up at six, get ready, and go to school. I would hang out with friends, learn, and live my life. Then I would go home and do homework, followed by either playing video games, work, or going to my community center to play basketball. We would play games in an indoor court with up to 15 people, running five versus five. Then life halted. The virus hit, and everything along with it. School closed, then businesses, restaurants, and any other thing that allowed any type of fun was closed too. Day by day, the number of cases grew. Those basketball games began to start happening with less and less people and at outdoor parks. Now, the games have turned to one person playing by himself, iso-ball. 

I am both very content, while also very confused and upset at the same time as this break has gone on. Obviously, the aspects of not having school are great, considering we nearly were through three quarters and most of us were ready for a break. Staying at home with family and being able to not be at school is fun while it lasts, but it soon gets very boring. Although this is fun, it is a very concerning matter since the spread of it is so fast. There was also a lot to look forward to, like college visits, trips, and concerts that I and many others all had planned, which eventually got cancelled too. 

So in a confusing time like this, I advise everyone to stay safe and try to be as active as you can. It can be rough, but take the time to relax and better yourself. My days as you heard have been just as boring as yours, yet going outside and playing basketball is something for me that helps me get through it. Let’s all just try to stay safe, stay healthy, communicate with friends, and hope that soon enough this will go away and we can start living a regular life again. Remember you are not alone, everyone else is probably doing just what you are.