Positives of Quarantining | spectrum-newspaper

What’s Good About Quarantine?

By Steph Trendell

Thanks to the COVID-19 outbreak, there is so much we are missing out on: school, sports, shows and rehearsals, vacations, friends, a haircut, maybe your driver’s test. Simply the freedom to do whatever, and go wherever whenever we please.

Luckily, we are not alone. The whole world seems to be covered with a blanket of melancholy and despair.

However, it’s easy to focus on the bad. I know I have. But I have spent enough time mourning everything (and everyone) we have lost to know that thinking about it only makes it worse. So, I decided to write about some of the things that are good about this time away from, well, everything. I am not aiming to invalidate the bad, but maybe reading about how quarantine has positively affected people, we can see that it is not as bad as it seems on the surface.

I surveyed over 80 people and asked the following questions:

Other than school work, what is the number one thing you have been doing to occupy your time in quarantine?
What is something that has been closed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic that you are happy about?
What is something positive for you personally that has resulted because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Here is what people said for Question 1:

Some of the activities under “Other” include:

Working at a grocery store
Working at Pappas Rehabilitation Center for Children
Cleaning
Watching the news while doing a sudoku puzzle

Questions 2 and 3 were written in a free response format. Here are some of our most popular answers!

Question 2: What is something that has been closed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic that you are happy about?

SATs/ACTs (more time to study)
MCAS
Finals
School
Work
AP tests (only 45 minutes, open notes)
Nothing

Question 3: What is something positive for you personally that has resulted because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

More time to spend with family
More time to focus on myself; self improvement
Getting in better shape
More time to get outside and enjoy the weather
Able to get more sleep
Learn a new skill/practice an old one
Less stress
Nothing

For those of you that said “nothing”...

Remember: a positive about being in quarantine doesn’t have to be anything big. Here are some more creative answers. While they may not undo the sadness from all that we have lost, it is something.

Question 2: What is something that has been closed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic that you are happy about?

The courts (this person was due to go in for a ticket)
Parents’ work (this person can spend more time with their parents)
Fast Food Restaurants (causes this person to eat healthier)

Question 3: What is something positive for you personally that has resulted because of the COVID-19 pandemic?

I don’t have to put my phone in the pocket anymore.
I got DUCKS!
I am working at a grocery store, so I am making a lot of money.
It’s nice to see the environment have a break.
I finished 3 books.
I am learning how to embroider.
I started a business!/Opportunity to build my business
I don’t have to find a date to prom.
I get to hang out with my dogs.
There is less pressure about my appearance because I am not seeing people everyday.

Many people even said that they were happy that quarantine gave them time to try new things because they realized that these things weren’t as bad as they thought, or even fun!

Even after all this, if you still think that there is nothing happy about during this time, there is one thing that we can all gain from this: a greater appreciation for the things that we have lost. You may think that you’ve always appreciated everything you have. But how many times have we complained about going to school, work, or practice? How many times have we not wanted to go out with friends because we “didn’t feel like it”? How many times have we told our parents “no” when they asked if we wanted to go to the grocery store with them? Now we don’t even have the option.

May we never complain again.