by Abbey Terfehr, 04/27/2020, Traverse City, MI

Middle School 6-8 Category

Quarantined at Home
By Abbey Terfehr

It’s such a strange feeling being stuck at home. I have enjoyed running around the yard and playing with my dogs; it helps me to take my mind away from thinking about the negative things that are going on around me. I have been catching up on some organizing. It really relaxes me to just play some music or an audiobook and organize something. Baking and cooking has also been a fun activity to do;  it also helps take my mind off what is happening around me. Hiking, walking, running, or biking, with my family has been very relaxing, it’s also very important at this time that we all get fresh air. I’ve noticed that even if I don’t want to go out, it really helps me to go outside and get some fresh air.

I have been enjoying connecting with my class, friends, and family, through Zoom and FaceTime, it really helps take away the feeling of being lonely, in the beginning of Quarantine, all I could think about was how I needed my teachers and friends, I am so grateful that we have technology to connect with the people in our life that we need at this hard time. Doing art and craft projects has been extremely relaxing, I started out doing a art challenge every day, now I am making custom bracelets, and friendship bracelets, so I can mail them to my friends, it makes me feel like I am connecting with them in a way. Writing letters and cards and mailing them to my friends, and family has been a great way to connect with them without using technology, plus getting letters in the mail, I personally think is pretty exciting. I have also been doing a lot of school work while being at home, in the beginning it was extremely hard, but after about a week it got better, it can still be stressful at times, but my amazing teachers are great at helping me through the stress.

While in quarantine I have been feeling a lot of emotions. One day I’m happy, the next I’m crying. I have been feeling sad that I don’t get to go to school or see my friends. I have been feeling tired, because I stay up at night stressed out about things, so I don’t get enough sleep, but meditating helps me with that. Most of all I have been feeling lonely, not getting to be with my friends, teachers, or anyone else has made me feel extremely lonely.

I am really looking forward to doing all of the activities I did before quarantine. I’m also so exited to be with my friends, classmates, teachers, and family again.