As COVID-19 continues to spread, high schools and colleges around the world are closing, and students are staying home. Quarantining can feel isolating, but stories like these have the power to change that.
Today’s blog is written by Makayla Strickland, a high school senior in Buffalo, Missouri.
Hey there, I’m Makayla, and I’m stuck at home. I’m 17 and a Senior at Buffalo High School in Buffalo, Missouri. Being a senior is supposed to be the best part of high school, but since the coronavirus outbreak, I feel like that’s been stripped away from me, my classmates, and the Class of 2020 worldwide.
On March 16th, my classmates and I went to school like it was nothing. By the end of the day, we were all in a frenzy. We were thinking: When are we coming back? Will we be coming back? What about our track season? Choir Contest? And as a senior, you can’t help but wonder: Was that my last day of high school? Will I graduate?
Ever since then, life has been super different.
First of all, my routine is all messed up, and 90% of the time, I have no idea what day it is! Since being quarantined to our homes, we’ve switched to online classes. I’m lucky enough to have access to the internet, so I can do all of my work from my Chromebook, but if you don’t have internet access, the school will send out a work packet from the bus routes.
Other than keeping up with schoolwork, I do a few other things to stay busy.
I like to spend my time spring cleaning, hammocking, reading, playing video games, and texting with my friends. This past week, I’ve been teaching myself the piano! I also wrote a speech for my Speech and Debate class on “How to Make Spaghetti,” which, by the way, I have a phenomenal recipe for. These new activities come along with some canceled ones, like my choir. We’d already started working on our contest pieces when we received the news that we wouldn’t be competing in our Large and Small Ensemble or the Worlds of Fun Festival of Music competition in Kansas City, Missouri.
During this quarantine, I’ve spent a lot of time with my family, which can be super fun until you get cabin fever! My sister is in middle school and is super lazy when it comes to her schoolwork, so I have the task of helping her catch up. Our least favorite subject is definitely math, but as much as I dislike it, I would do anything to go back to school (even if that meant having a math class).
Alongside helping my sister with her work, my mom and I have gotten outdoors and put down new mulch for our little garden. She let me help design what it would look like, so I picked red and black mulch for our school colors. Before the outbreak, I was on the varsity track team for our school. I threw shotput and went to practice every day. Now, my family and I try to stay active by going on walks, doing yard work, and just running errands.
I have enjoyed the time I have gotten to spend with my family and I’m so grateful that my county hasn’t been exposed to any coronavirus cases yet (and we are hoping to keep it that way). But I am really missing my friends, teachers, and just going to school in general. I’m really hoping that this will all pass as quickly as it arrived.
