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Students’ dreams trashed by COVID-19: The vague and uncertain
By Maia Anastopoulos
Our school system closed on the ironic date of Friday the 13th in March, and our shutdown for the remainder of the school year became officially permanent yesterday. Although disappointing, the recent news was not a surprise. Reported cases are still on the rise in our state, so there does not appear to be a predictable end to this crisis. I actually feel some relief that we won’t be going back given that we’re not past the worst yet. Reports say that younger people are less susceptible to the effects of this virus, but what about those of us who have asthma and other conditions, our teachers, and the parents and grandparents who will get sick if we do?
If this crisis had not happened, I would be giving myself a final academic push to get through fourth quarter and the end of the school year in June. Being in school at this time of year is also more enjoyable because of better weather and opportunities to be outside for cluster time (free block), gym, and exploratories. Time in quarantine is vague and uncertain. Night and day mark the hour, but the usual feelings that we associate with Mondays, Fridays and weekends are missing. Our teachers are doing their best to offer creative assignments and meet with us online, but the blur between school and leisure time within the confines of the same space has a way of making learning feel tedious and therefore more tiring. Four hours of work feel like ten, and it’s hard to find motivation when there is no promise of outside escape.
Pauses between activities inevitably fill my brain with questions about what things will be like this summer and this coming fall. This crisis will not go away overnight or even a few weeks from now, and reports from the media talk about a “new normal.” For now, the first step towards the new normal means trying not to mourn what we’ve missed or worry about the future. I try not to think about the school dance we missed by only one week, the trip my family and I would have taken during school vacation week, or how mundane Easter was this year without the extended family and friends who would have visited us. I also try not to think about the possibility that Fourth of July events might not happen, that beaches will not open this year, and that this crisis will continue to some extent even after the summer months.
An upside to this crisis is being able to keep up with friends and extended family through FaceTime and social media. The technology that has often been maligned for keeping people apart is the only thing that is keeping people together. I have also been able to spend more time with immediate family, who are now working from home and with me for the entire day. We’re trying to talk and laugh more and do things together to make this stressful time more bearable. In the end, nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, but this quarantine is keeping people safe so that they will have a tomorrow.
Maia Anastopoulos is a seventh grader at Peabody’s Higgins Middle School.