And We're Back!
Hi Covid-TV readers! Long time not see! Anyway, we’re back and more excited than ever to show you what we have been working on for Covid-TV. However, in the month we have been gone, more stuff has happened than we could have imagined. For most of us, school has started again and is fully back in session. Unfortunately, almost every school has gone back online, something that was unimaginable this time last year. I can still remember first hearing about Covid-19 and thinking the two weeks quarantine would be like an extra spring break. This experience isn’t any different than the ones of my peers, you guys, or even students from across the world. It seems like we would be more used to the Coronavirus by now, but everyday continues to reveal new challenges. If i’m being honest, managing my school work online isn’t any easier for me than it was last year, even though I now have almost a semester of online school under my belt. Managing my mental health during this time has also continued to show its challenges. Just when I think I have figured quarantine out, something new pops up and I am forced to accept and work around new obstacles.
But really, isn’t that what being a teenager is about? We can all confidently say that the movies lied to us, and being a high schooler isn’t the dream life we had expected. There's no endless parties and teen romances and sunsets. Of course we do have some of that, but the overall experience is so different. In reality, high school is full of friend drama and figuring out your identity and loads of homework. So not only are we let down by this fantasy movie world of high school, but on top of this we also have the pandemic that has made our high school experience dramatically different than those of other generations.
I was talking to a friend the other day for our school newspaper, and she asked me if I saw any upsides to our current school situation. I found that even after all this time, I was still leaning towards the negative side of things. Just this simple conversation acted as a wake up call to me. If I can somehow shift my perspective on the situation, maybe I could realize some of the benefits that have come from these bizarre times. I realize I still haven’t mastered one of the most basic skills of quarantine (or life): looking for the bright side of things.
Just as we begin to discover who we are during our high school years, we are continuing to learn how to overcome new obstacles almost everyday during the pandemic. With over six months of this down, we are still learning each day how to take care of ourselves and others. And that’s okay. We are continuing to grow from this experience, and no matter how foreign or strange it is to us, we have to remember that we are living through history right now. So if you’re like me and realizing you still don’t have this whole pandemic thing down, don’t worry, most of us don’t either.
Lauren :)