The Light at the end of the Tunnel: Covid-19 Diary
I remember walking out of the school building with my friend that last day. We were joking and laughing and overjoyed at the idea of two weeks away from classes. At that time, it was easy to see the positives. It was easy to see this as a good thing. Little did I know, that would be the last time I ever stepped foot in high school. Two weeks turned into a year and then continued to go longer and longer.
When the pandemic first started, everything was so confusing and strange. It felt as if everything had turned upset down and everything I had been enjoying was gone. Locked away in a house with no physical contact with any of my friends or my peers: it was torture. For a long time, I couldn’t see my girlfriend and our only connection was through text and call. Things I loved, such as art, became a burden as my creativity and motivation continued to drop. It was lonesome, tiring, and for a while, it seemed so hopeless that anything would get better as case numbers steadily and continuously rose higher and higher. Online school was troubling and difficult, and I couldn’t seem to keep up or learn using only technology and being out of the classroom. Over a year of online schooling later, I’m still struggling with it. It’s gotten better, I’ll admit, as teachers themselves learned better ways to present information in a virtual setting.
With time we’ve figured things out. I’ve figured things out. My lack of motivation is still present, and not everything is at its finest, but I’ve found ways to curb the isolation and stay connected with those around me, even if it’s not always in person. Technology has been both my curse and my savior throughout the pandemic. My friend group has learned to make do and used things like Skype and Discord to continue something that we all loved: Dungeons and Dragons. This game helped me get through tough times and take my mind off the world that was seemingly falling apart around us. I could travel to fantasy lands with my friends, using only our imagination and a set of dice. I was finally able to continue my art and I’ve used my time in quarantine to try to improve my work. Things aren’t perfect, but I think I am starting to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I want things to return to normal again, and I’m willing to wait as long as I need to safely get back to that point.
It was supposed to be two weeks. But sometimes life is unpredictable and strange and we must go through that tunnel, as hard as it is, to make it to the light.
