I.Z., a teen in Murrieta, CA

This post is in collaboration with covid9teen

Murrieta, CA:

In my area, the rules were put into place in mid-March, as that was when we no longer went to physical school. My parents immediately went out to many stores to stock up on large quantities of pasta, rice and canned foods and for toilet paper (for both my family and my grandpa) as well. However, a few months into quarantine my family and I would send a max of two people to go out shopping once every two weeks for groceries. Other than for shopping, my sister and I leave the house twice a week to get allergy shots as well as for track and soccer practices. At our sports practices we must now fill out a health survey before each practice and there are restrictions over scrimmaging and distancing from other teams to ensure everyone’s health and safety. However, these restrictions have gotten looser. For example, in the beginning of the quarantine I could not even make contact with my teammates, we just recorded ourselves doing the weekly exercises and skill work. So, now that I am able to work out alongside my teammates, the hardest thing about quarantine is not being able to see my grandma, especially not being able to hang out with her during the holidays. My grandmother lives in another state so we would probably have to do a two week quarantine before even visiting her, but my family believes it is still too much of a risk to take. We call her on facetime, but, of course it is not the same. The situation caused by quarantine has been kind of tough for me school-wise as I ask a lot of questions since it is more awkward to ask questions and for help over zoom, but my family and I are stable at the moment so I am lucky that understanding online school is my greatest problem. I have felt quite lonely in quarantine but by playing new video games and getting on call with my friends to play with them has helped greatly with my happiness. Staying in contact with people is tough right now, but it is very rewarding to stay connected even if it is online. Besides playing video games to pass time, I have been trying to learn new things to keep myself stimulated, so I have been practicing chess and reading through textbooks on biology and chemistry to combat boredom which has been working fairly well. Learning or practicing new things or hobbies is a great way to spend quarantine, and I know a decent amount of people who have been making the best of their extra time and restlessness this way. I am just happy that most people I have seen or known have been following the rules, but I still have seen some other teenagers that hang out in large gatherings and in public not wearing their masks, which is kind of saddening to see since it is so easy to do.

[submitted on 1/2/2021]

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