Being Quarantined during the Coronavirus

The Coronavirus snuck up on all of us, and it is now affecting all of us in different ways. Here is my perspective on being quarantined during the Coronavirus.

The first day didn’t seem like anything was going to get serious and I was just happy I was getting days off and don’t have to go to school. The days went by and we would hear on the TV of cases slowly arising around the world, and we thought it would hit us, so we kept going out and being social and active. The Virus didn’t seem all that serious to most people because the news said it is affecting people with respiratory problems and people who are older with possible problems. When my family heard this, we thought of the family members who could get affected are my brother and sister. These two had to be the most carful with this because the virus would affect their breathing. As the days went on my family and I began to look at the news and see schools slowly closing, and one of those schools was my sister’s. At first she was all happy and excited but then it turned to a not so happy moment because, they stated that everyone in High school and middle school would get left back for a year which basically would have meant that my sister would have been going to the same grade again, even though she was half way done. This was in the beginning of all this and it slowly became more of a problem when we began to see cases in Brooklyn, and other places that were close to us. We then began to social distance as the mayor and whoever else wanted us to do, so we couldn’t contract the virus.

Since I didn’t have to go to classes for a little while because of the confusion and trying to get the online classes started, I began to lose track of what I need to do being a college student. I didn’t realize this at the time, but I was messing myself up for the future. With the classes starting and stopping because of fixes and adjustments they had to do to get the online classes working, I began to lose the information I would gain from the class and forget about everything because we had more time off. Before all this happened, everything was going fine, I was on track of things as most people probably were but as soon as this started, I have learned a few things about the way I like to be taught information from classes. I personally hate the idea of online classes and being home because of all the distractions that come with being home.

I think I’m very disciplined in paying attention to schoolwork and keeping up with the things that have to get done, but when I’m home I feel more of a pressure to not do those things because of the environment I’m in. The online classes have been harsh for me because it’s a different way of learning. I don’t have a Professor in front of a room teaching me something. I knew before this happened that I enjoy being taught one on one or a professor to a small class, because I can possibly get the attention I need in order to grasp the material easier and be able to ask more in depth questions and not have to be rushed because the professor might have 30 students waiting to ask questions. This is a way I would prefer to be taught but with the online classes I lose that sense of connection with the professor because we were not in the same classroom.

Some online classes are better than others, such as a communications class, doesn’t really change because the same info can be taught online but with say a biology, especially a bio lab class, information gets lost since I’m not face to face with a professor, and can’t easily ask questions by raising my hand. Since all these classes have become online, I had some expectations set for how a class would turn out. One of those expectations was for my math class. I was expecting the worst, I didn’t think I wasn’t going to learn anything, I thought I was going to have to teach the material to myself, if the professor wasn’t doing a good job at making the information clear and concise. All my other classes I’m doing fine in except for my bio lecture, but I didn’t know how much being inside and taking these online classes affected the people around me.

With being stuck inside too long can have many psychological problems. I don’t see any of these problems in myself because I have to walk my dog so she can do her business. I see this more in my sister. At first there weren’t any problems with her being inside for a week. One of these reasons was because it was too cold, and the outside didn’t look all that appealing. As the days went on and she realized that she has been inside for a long time, she wanted some sort of human interaction with the outside. I saw that when she was done with her work it affected her the most because she would usually spend her time doing something out side with a friend, but that couldn’t happen anymore so she needed some sort of way out. She would sleep most of her day away because she would have nothing to  do and when she was awake, she would go onto apps such as Tik Tok, Instagram and all those other social media sites. This got boring quickly and she began to stay in her room and lay in bed and sleep the day away. Since I walked the dog, I asked her if she would like to go around the block with me since I don’t want her to be exposed to a lot of people and get her exposed. When this happened, it was as if a weight was lifted off her shoulder, she felt energized and wanted to get things done and play some games that she has never tried. This was interesting for me to see because I am interested in the human mind and enjoy seeing what goes through someone’s head.

This virus has shown me the way we people are. We are social creatures and we get that in different ways; some people get it from playing online with others around the world, and some people prefer to get it by speaking to a person face to face. This coronavirus has made everything difficult for everyone in their own ways. Some people are dealing with that feeling of being alone because they can’t see a spouse or loved one, and others are getting by because they have already taken online classes, and nothing has really changed. My situation has been fine because college keeps me occupied and I don’t get much time to do what I want till the weekend. As the term slowly comes to an end and I start to get things done, I can already see that I might have a lot of time to myself and I will get bored of the freedom very quickly because even though I might be able to go outside I still feel alone because I enjoy interaction with people face to face but I get my fill of human interaction from playing online games.

The coronavirus has made most people realize what is important such as possibly hanging out with family more often or calling people such as parents that could possibly be far away. This virus has also shown the worst part of people because we are stuck in the house with the same person. Certain people in my home I can tolerate when I get little encounters with them and don’t need to see them almost all of the time, but as the time went on and I kept seeing the said person, I began to get agitated with their presence around me, and it’s terrible the way when we get to much of someone we can become hostile toward that person or have hostile intentions when that person is around. The virus has shown the good parts of some people and the worst parts in others as I have explained here.

Being trapped in with all the same people for too long can clearly influence someone’s mind as it is doing to me. I have also learned who I can relate to more in my family by being quarantined. I found this out because me and my sister have bonded more which we never did before this happened because we had totally different lives and would barely see each other. Now that we are stuck in the house we have been hanging out a lot more and have played some co-op games together, that we wouldn’t of been able to try if we weren’t stuck in the house. This has made it easier to get through the quarantine because playing the games such as Stardew Valley and Gungeon, really make the time go by faster and make it seem like we aren’t stuck inside.

The virus has bought out evil things but has also made new things. The virus has made my family can spend more time together because usually everyone is out and about doing their own thing or working. This makes it so I can see most of my family members and can see what has been going on in their life. My family has many board games lying around the house and we have made it a thing where we choose one of those games every Sunday and play it and see who is best at a particular board game. We have played Monopoly, Battleship, which was the longest one we’ve played scrabble, and another called Tetris links. The virus has bought us closer together but has stopped our social life with other people. It’s probably for the better because we are spending more time with each other and playing board games that haven’t been played for years. Even though we are in the house with the same people we are  still making it work and keeping ourselves entertained.

Since I’ve reconnected with my family more I have seen that I love the people around me and I know I can trust them to have my back in any situation. The situation we are in has also put a dent in my wallet. Since my mother is the only one working at the moment, I’ve has to use some money in order to help her provide for everyone at the house, and I’ve felt good in helping her since I always wanted to since I was young. This has helped us get through the situation we are in and I’m hoping we won’t need to worry any longer after this thing blows over.

Since the time I’ve been in the house I have learned to enjoy watching streamers. These people play games live and I can see their live reactions, comment and even donate money if I’m having a good time and want to support what they do. I would never invest my money into one of them because I don’t see anything worth it but I do enjoy the content they have put out. The only streams I watch are from this person named Teo on twitch. He has played many games with friends and some by himself, and they are quite entertaining. I’ve laughed till I cried and enjoyed watching him win at games and even play some wacky games. Usually people will spend their time watching a movie or more, especially now since we are quarantined but I would rather look up a game that just came out and see how it is by watching someone play it live. This has made it easier to find new games to play and made it easier to pass the time when I get it after my work is done.

The coronavirus didn’t just hinder me in my classes, it showed me what I need to do in order to pass. It has shown me in order to pass my bio classes, with flying colors I would be best in some sort of study group. I would be able to reiterate the knowledge that I’ve learned from the class and see if what I’m saying is right by telling the people in the study group what I think I  know of the topic we learned of that day. With this newfound knowledge I think I will do much better next term. This term went great but as soon as the virus shut down schools, I started to lose my flow of how I was doing things during the regular time I was in school. Being home brought with it all the distractions that come with being home, and when I had to start studying, I hated having to do it more than usual. Even though I didn’t want to do it, I decided to test out a new way to study for my biology exams. I would make flash cards right after the lecture is done and study the hell out of it. I would do this after each lecture, and I had it twice a week. Before this happened, I would study 1 lecture of notes a week, even though I have 2 lectures in one week. Since I was doing it twice a week and I was home I saw that it wasn’t sticking as it was when I was going to school and studying once a week. Even though I was behind all the time on the lecture. The information was sticking, and I could recall it much better. I try to fill in 2 lectures a week and trying to study and remember all the information before the next class, hurt me a little more than it did when I was behind. At least when I was behind, I could recall a lot more from the past lectures then I can now.

As the final tests and essays start to get done and I get more time to myself. I see that I don’t want to spend all this time playing games by myself. I’d rather play a board game with someone and do other things that involve cooperation of some sort. I get to play board games with the family every Sunday, but I would want to do it more often. Since being quarantined I have learned how to relate and have a conversation with some of my family members and not get mad at the sight of them. The coronavirus has made me think of what I’m doing right and wrong and has really made me and I’m pretty sure other people reflect on what is going on in their lives. This coronavirus has also opened my eyes to different game I could play.

Usually I would hate story driven games where they tell a story and you’re a character in that story but now that I have a lot of time to do other things, I have decided to give them another try. I have learned to enjoy them and have gotten immersed in their story line. The games I’ve tried are the last of us, I tried this one since I heard they are making a new one, and I’ve tried this one since I heard it was a great story game and had some fun multiplayer. The other game I tried was Watch dogs 2. I had played the first one and loved it because the character you played as lived in a world where everything is monitored, and he was a hacker who could control mostly everything such as cars, cameras, and everything else such as construction vehicles. It was a fun game and I enjoyed it because I was able to get a friend to play it and we went around the world causing panic and mayhem. The next game I played was called insidious second son. Before I played this game, I played the first and I believe second before this one. Those other games came up on the ps3 which was ages ago. This game revolved around you being a person who has powers and you have a choice on whether or not to be good or bad. The story revolved around people who didn’t like you because you were different and a government attempting to make you look bad but also exploit the fact that they have the ability to recreate the characters powers into another person. These are just a few because these types of games take a long time to beat especially when I’m trying to get all the secretes and unlock all the hidden things the game has to offer.

Before the quarantine happened, I played a little of these story games, but they were boring to me because they took up a lot of time. I wanted to grab a controller or mouse and begin to play something with ease since I didn’t have much time to do things. This leads to me playing some RPG’s where I would have to go get loot and not die, but even though if I did I would just have to restart from scratch and see how far I could get with the new stuff I unlocked. These games usually are enjoyable the first couple of time you play but as you stop unlocking things and begin to remember the tactics to make it the farthest, it gets really annoying because when you make a silly mistake in the game. These games have been my lifeline of happiness for the past weeks, but I am slowly moving away from them and opening my mind to games I never thought I would be playing. These games consist of turn based, real time strategy’s and the story-based games. This has made the quarantine a lot better because I have options on what I could play and don’t need to worry about running out of content.

I have also gotten into this new game called animal crossing. There have been many versions of this game and it has gotten better over the years. I am playing the newest version of it right now and am really enjoying myself. This game revolves around real time meaning when its 8:00 here it is also there, and I can get certain things depending on what time it is. The game is so in depth that the shops you can get in the game open at a specific time and sell different things such as cloths. This all takes up a lot of my time in the morning and some time at night because I don’t want to miss out on any opportunity that pops up. This game requires my full attention some days because I want to progress and see what more the game has to offer and try and get my house to be the biggest it can be. This is also a thing in the game which is that you have a home which you can upgrade by paying someone named Tom Nook a lot of money in order to add or expand a room.

This game has a lot of customization such as decorating the inside and around your house since the game now allows us to build things on the outside and not only the inside. I have already put a lot of time into the game and have decorated my house to the brim and I have made many different costumes for my character in order to spice things up every now and again. This game allows the creative mind to flow and allow me to spread my designs and creativity all across the land I am in. The game has made me invest in this thing they have called the “Stalk” market, which is just like the stock market but instead you buy turnips. The prices change such as the stock market and can be super high or super low. The stock market does the same thing and the plan is always to buy low and sell high in order to make a huge payout, or at least a mediocre payout. This game isn’t like the story games or others I’ve played. This game allows me to be who I want, and I can do what I want when I am the representative of the town. There is even a museum where you can donate things such as bugs, art, fish and fossils that can be found in your town or other islands. Some people might live in the southern hemisphere and will probably have a different climate and have different fish bugs and other things running around and they could help you expand your museum by allowing you to come over and fish or catch bug in their place. I have a couple of people who play the game but not as much as me and I have made it a secret competition with myself to get better and make my town look better. Usually people don’t like me for it, but I do it anyway because it keeps me wanting to play the game and progress further into it.

The quarantine may separate us, but with these computer games and the internet, we can make the present feel good, make it seem like we are not so far away from each other, and keep us all connected to each other and not feel so alone.