The (Admittedly Limited) Positives of Quarantine by Sarah Bargfrede

It’s funny how hard it can be to come up with something creative to write about when there is only one topic on everyone’s mind. Covid19 has taken over our lives in a big way. Even those who are not directly affected by the disease see its effects everywhere. It is crowding the news headlines, projected in tv commercials, declared in the radios, and professed in the emptiness of the grocery store shelves. I sincerely did not want to write about the Coronavirus. I wanted to come up with a creative and fun idea to take your minds and mine off of this depressing epidemic, but every possibility that entered my brain could in some way be traced back to a result of the virus. Because of my complete inability to avoid this topic, I decided to settle for the next best thing; a post about the positive effects of the Coronavirus. *Disclaimer* Obviously the negative trumps the positive in this scenario and I in no way mean to downplay the severity of this epidemic, I only hope to highlight some of the light in the darkness of our current time rather than focusing on all that we have lost

1. Learning New Skills While at first, many things (MANY. THINGS.) seemed more compelling than learning or increasing a skill, these seemingly never-ending days of limited social contact eventually caused me to expand my list of boredom-negating activities. (There is a point when you just CAN’T watch any more Office reruns and I am pretty sure that I have reached that point.) With all this free time, I have definitely been able to spend more time on my artwork or take some online courses on subjects that interest me, something I rarely find the time (or will) to do. I even baked some cookies!... Although I forgot the eggs so when put it in the oven, the dough morphed into one melted-looking blob of brown with a scattering of chocolate chips and was rendered completely inedible… but cookies nonetheless.

2. More time with family Granted, I sometimes come to question whether this can be described as a good or bad thing. I’m sure many of you are beginning to struggle just as much as I am with the house suddenly seeming too confining and occasionally wishing there were more rooms to hide in what with siblings on the loose and most parents working from home, but while this may seem overwhelming at first, it can easily be considered a good thing as well. Typically my Dad doesn’t come home until late on weekdays so it’s honestly a rare and appreciated thing to see him during lunch and spend time with my family after everyone is finished working. I know I probably sound like a Hallmark card but while seeing so much of them can become aggravating at times, the extra moments I’ve been able to share with them is something I’d never fail to welcome (most of the time…).

3. Waking up late As someone who typically goes to sleep early and is still somehow unfailingly tired every day, the ability to spend some extra hours in bed without an obnoxious alarm forcing me awake is something of a dream that, I feel, needs no explanation. 

4. Home Schooling There are some negative aspects of homeschooling that I could complain about. Obviously, a learning program that had to be hastily thrown together by teachers across the country as the threats of the virus spread will have understandable flaws. Rather than complaining about the new methods, there are a few things that I genuinely enjoy about learning from home. The overall casualness of chatting with a teacher through a screen while sitting on your bed eating pretzels definitely takes away some of the more daunting and pressure-filled aspects of school. Aside from video calls, the homeschooling method also allows students to practically build there own schedule, allowing plenty of time for Netflix breaks (that in my case, probably last too long). 

That’s all for my list but if anyone is reaping any other small but enjoyable benefits of Covid19, I’d love to know them!