The unexpected opportunity of being quarantined
With the reality of being trapped at home comes unexpected surprises.
What better time than the present to start working on savoring these last few years at home? Original artwork by Evanthia Stirou
Picture this: you’re on a vacation with your family in Hawaii. Every day you wake up excited to spend the day with them and see what adventures are in store in this new, uncharted territory.
Sounds fun, right? And it will be, for the week you and the fam are there.
Okay, well imagine that scenario, except instead of Hawaii you’re at your house, and instead of vacation there’s still school, it’s just online. Further, instead of a week, it’s going to be several months.
A little less fun. Now, obviously, these two scenarios aren’t exactly similar, but even so, one thing that didn’t change between them was the steady presence of your family. Sure, quarantine is no vacation to Hawaii, but maybe Corona-cation still poses a great opportunity: some government-mandated quality family time.
Inevitably, everyone being cooped up with their families all the time hasn’t been the easiest. Even without the added stress of Corona, teenagers’ relationships with their parents can be pretty strained, so quarantining the two parties together for extended periods of time sounds like a recipe for disaster.
But honestly, after my family got into the rhythm of things and adjusted, it really hasn’t been that bad.
Maybe constant time with family isn’t your idea of a great time, but when you’re in high school, sometimes it can be hard to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Something I’ve been trying to do these past few weeks is to wrap my head around the idea that my time living at home isn’t unlimited. In a couple of short years, I’ll be packing up and moving to college, and after that, my relationship with my parents will never be the same.
Of course, I still plan to stay very close with my parents and visit them whenever I can, but the truth of the matter is that after I move out, it won’t ever be the same. That’s why I’ve decided that I want to make all this time spent with my parents into a positive thing.
When my mom wants to go walk around the neighborhood with me, I say yes. When my dad says he’s going to go drive around for a while, I ask if I can join. The options are endless: cooking, movie night, board games, etc. This situation is far from ideal, but I’m doing my best to look at the positives and take the opportunities I can given the circumstances. To be honest, one of those opportunities is the shift in perspective it has given me when it comes to my family.
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Caroline is a Senior at Saint Stephen's and is returning for her third year on The Gauntlet. This year, she is taking on the position of Editor in Chief....