7 Perks of Quarantining
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7 Perks of Quarantining

My attempt to to find the silver lining in a tough situation

Grace Troutman
Apr 03, 2020
Mississippi State University
34
7 Perks of Quarantining

I think I can speak for majority of students, regardless of educational level, when I say that this quarantine sucks. Coming home from college was one of the saddest things I've done in a while, and I miss it everyday. I know in the grand scheme of life, circumstances could be far worse, but that doesn't erase the fact that I'm upset over the experience I lost. With all of that being said, I've been trying to find the good in this situation. Some kind of positive benefit that could come from being kicked off campus and having no choice but to be several hours from most of my college friends. It's sometimes difficult to see, but here's a few things that have actually been good about being forced to stay home.

Having time to read books

This is really awesome for me. I used to read avidly as a kid, and I haven't been able to do so honestly since high school started. Books here and there? Sure, maybe during vacations. But now, I have much more time to enjoy good stories. I've set aside time everyday to read, and often times, I spend more time than I planned for invested in my book. It's a small thing, but it's brought me a lot of joy. It reminds me of a simpler time in life before all of the current chaos.

Making money

Aside from the fact that I have nothing to actually spend money on, I'm still being paid for my campus job as an SI Leader since everything has been moved online. I'm also watching my little cousins everyday which means I'm taking in money without spending it, so I get to have a little for myself and put a lot into savings.

Getting to watch TV

As fun as college is, it's super busy which means I don't have a lot of time during the week to watch my favorite shows. Now, though, I'm watching Shameless season 10, keeping up with Grey's, and watching new movies whenever I can (Or just rewatching Perks of Being a Wallflower since it's on Netflix now). Regardless, I've really liked having the opportunity to just sit on my Netflix or Hulu or even home TV and just relax.

Exercising

I've never been one to really enjoy exercise, with the exception of it being in the form of sports. College made me worse with this too. In high school, I at least had my mom and dad encouraging me to workout or my brother to play one one one basketball with, but college made me motivation to exercise even lower than before. Now, with extra quarantine time, I try to exercise at least every other day which has actually been kind of nice. It makes me feel productive and passes time.

Spending time with my family

I won't pretend that moving back home was something I dreaded and cried about, but in a lot of ways, I've come to appreciate the time I get to spend with my family. I've gone back to living with my siblings which has allowed me to be more involved in their lives as well as allowed me to talk to my parents more. There are definitely days where I get sick of it all, but I'm mostly grateful to be here with them. I can't imagine spending this time alone.

FaceTiming people

While there are days where talking them only makes me miss them more, I'm so thankful to have things like FaceTime and Zoom because I can't imagine not being able to see my friends and hear about their lives. I wish I could be with them in person and give the hugs, but I'm glad to have any contact over none.

Classes are easier (mostly)

It's obviously different for everyone, but I know my professors are trying their absolute best to make online classes easy for everyone. They're really understanding of how we're handling the huge, sudden changes, and I would say that for majority of my classes, the online version has been a lot easier. It's definitely more out of class assignments, but in the end, I think it all evens out pretty fairly.

There are definitely some more positives, and I'm trying to come up with them as I go because it makes it just a little bit less difficult to miss my college life as much as I do. I guess that at the end of the day, all we can really do is remind ourselves to accept what we can't change and make the best of what we have.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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