To think my college experience couldn’t get worse. I thought I was having a hard time with classes on campus, but now I have to take classes online. While at college I always wanted to come home, but now that I’m stuck at home I want to go back to college. Before getting the email, I hadn’t really focused too much on the Coronavirus since it wasn’t in Maine when we were leaving for spring break. I had been hearing mixed things about the virus. People were telling me the flu was worse but yet schools are shutting down and states are going on lock down.

Before we left school for spring break and after hearing that colleges had started to close, I would tell my friends that I hope I don’t have to come back and tried to make jokes saying that we probably won’t be coming back. Never did I actually think that we would in fact not be returning to campus. Most of my friends on campus live far away and because of that I won’t be able to see them again till semester which is very upsetting. I had gotten so used to having almost all my meals with them and spending my down time together. I managed to start a routine without even realizing it and now everything is changed. 

            I used to think that I would be happier at home, since I normally want to be here instead of at school, but now I miss being on campus. Not so much the school part, but the social aspect. At home I don’t really leave anyway unless it’s out with my family or to head back to school. College was the most social I had been in a while and now it’s gone. I liked having that freedom to do what I wanted. I enjoy sleeping in my own bed and spending time with my family, but now that we are all stuck home, we are all getting frustrated with each other. Both my parents are home from work now and my sister’s school is also online. My family isn’t the type of family that can stay at home for long periods of time. 

            I have also lost my whole routine. I liked having the structure of my classes in the morning and then having the afternoon to do work or relax. It was also nice to have classes to help enforce when things are due to help motivate me to do work. Most of my classes now are asynchronous and all assignments are due on Sunday which all makes me procrastinate more. I’m trying to find a new schedule that will help me with keeping up with my course load. It also feels like it’s a lot more work because we also have to the work we would do in class. Which adds to the stress because I’m someone who likes more structure. 

            This pandemic has caused a lot of fear in world. I have heard lots of different things about corona and how it is affecting everyone. I haven’t been focusing too much on all of this chaos, all I know is that it is in Maine now and that I need to stay at least 6 feet away from people. Lots of people have told me things about it, like it really only effects old people and people with weak immune systems.  All I’m certain of is that I have been washing my hands so much that my hands are drying and cracking now. 

             I haven’t learned much about myself or had some type of spiritual awakening during all of this. Not too much has changed in my community. And I have learned that if my family is together for too long, we all tend to get annoyed with each other. I’ve used this time procrastinating doing homework and painting and drawing again. I’ve also been catching up on some sleep. I’ve been trying to do things that I didn’t have time to do while at college or haven’t done in a while. The main thing being art. I’ve started to paint again which is very relaxing. I’ve learned that this is something that helps me clear my mind when I need to take a break or a good thing to do before getting ready for the night as a calm down session. I’m not very good at art but you don’t need to be to enjoy it. 

            As for my community, I haven’t noticed too much. The only time I’m out is if we are taking our dog to the dog park or going to Walmart to get some essentials. I’ve noticed that despite having to keep social distance and trying to stay home, a lot of people have been out walking up and down the streets. I feel like I’ve seen more people walking these past couple weeks than I have the whole summer. People are trying to combat their boredom and finding something productive to do. A lot of people are still going out in public and going to stores which is surprising to me since a large portion of our community is elderly or senior citizens. 

            My family is a whole nether story. My mom, dad, sister, and I are all home. We haven’t been stuck together for this amount of time for a while. When I was home over break, we weren’t all home the whole day together. My parents were at work or my sister would be at school. We are all getting annoyed with each other. We also have a new puppy which adds to the stress. I can’t count how many times my dad as cleaned the house over the past two weeks. I’ve noticed that my dad isn’t the type of person to stay in the house the whole day. My mother is mainly worried about my grandparents getting it because they are so old. My sister just doesn’t want it.