Back in March, Coronavirus changed the world in an instant, forcing people into quarantine for months. Students were completely unaware that the extra week of spring break would be extended into a 5 month COVID-19 filled summer. It pulled many teenagers into a state of mental vulnerability; some students were left in a harmful rut while others benefited from this lengthy social break. When the second wave hit, students began to understand that it would not be getting any better. As school starts up again, students reflect on the beginning of the first wave.
“I felt like I was living in a movie, I was really confused, I didn’t know what to do,” Champion High School senior Reid Bartel said. “I was scared. Trying to get through your teens while the world starts burning around you is frightening.”
The novel coronavirus continues impact many people. For some people, it took a while to try to find ways to handle this.
“I struggled really hard with my mental health over quarantine,” Bartel said. “I’m diagnosed with depression and was already not doing great before corona. Being stuck in my house made it worse. I got stuck in bed, not turning my work in, ignoring texts, just not doing good. While quarantine started hurting my mental health, it led to me learning how to cope with it too. My mental health is better now because I learned ways to help myself feel a little better like exercising, eating healthy, and finding friends that I can be 100% honest about my thoughts with.”
Whether they’ve felt bad, good, or a combination of both, no one had the same experience in quarantine. For many people, there have been some positive outcomes.
“I’d say my mental health as a whole was affected positively,” CHS sophomore Anna Sagui said. “I know that sounds crazy, but I was able to just figure out what I want my priorities to be in the upcoming year and chill. I’m fairly social, so I wasn’t expecting to like quarantine; however, it was surprisingly refreshing to take a break.”
Having this time to themselves was what a lot of students subconsciously needed.
“My mental health was definitely negatively affected at the beginning of quarantine. I was always in bed and didn’t want to get out of my room to do anything. I barely even left the house. But towards the middle and end of quarantine I think I started to better myself. I really found out who I am as a person, and I got more motivation to do things,” junior Lauren Miller said.
No two people report feeling the same and no one can ever have the exact experience as another, but for the vast majority of teenagers in this generation, quarantine was a growing and/or learning period for them—mentally, spiritually, and physically.
“Overall, I feel COVID created opportunity to allow our generation to gain a new perspective on life, so with all the bad, some good can be taken from it. At least we don’t have to wear hazmat suits,” Anna Sagui said.