How the COVID-19 has changed student lives
Hannah Gross
NLJ Correspondent
The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, otherwise known as the new coronavirus, has made its mark on everyone, even those not infected with the disease. In order to take proactive measures against the spread of the disease, Weston County School District No. 1, along with many other schools across the nation, has closed its doors for the time being. This has affected many students in Weston County, and a few of them shared how they’ve adjusted their schedules and changed their daily routines. All of them who responded said they are still keeping up with some of their homework online.
Question: How has COVID-19 changed your daily life?
Sophomore Maggie Lorenz: Not much has changed about my daily life now that we are out of school. The only thing that changed was my morning routine. With the sudden school cancellation, I have now been able to find time for my meditation and yoga and have proper time to sleep well and get ready. I usually spend my free time practicing my ukulele, doing art or watching Netflix.
Eighth-grader Destiny Lyle: My daily routine, ha, looked like waking up, and eating breakfast in the morning, and then we watch TV for a little while, then around noon we eat lunch, and my little brother and I get started on our homework for school and do that for a few hours, then since I am in track, I do my exercises for track. Then we pretty much eat dinner around 6:30 in the afternoon, and then I go to bed around 9:30 at night.
Freshman Brook Martell: Well, since COVID-19, my routine has certainly changed. I am being able to spend more time with my parents at home and also working with my horses more and more. It’s been nice to have some family time and also some horse time.
Freshman Anthony Quinton: Sleep all day woohoo all night (homework)
Senior Tessa Vandersnick: My daily routine has spun out of control since I have been quarantined. My parents still work, so I am home alone for most of my day. Because there is no reason for me to be away at early hours, I normally wake up around 10 (a.m.). Instantly I turn on some music, so no matter what I am doing it will be entertaining. After doing some schoolwork and taking care of my cats, I sit down to play videogames. Of course, I will play with my cats to give my eyes a break or write fictional pieces, so I do not lose my creative sparks. I fall asleep between 1-2 a.m. on a call with some of my friends.
Junior Lacie Koester: My daily routine is usually one of laziness. Being ill all the time has effects on your body and so I suffer from fatigue and other symptoms. Usually I wake up, check my e-mails, play a game, and do some homework if I can muster up the strength to do so.
Eighth-grader J.J. Lipp: This whole coronavirus has changed my daily life a lot. It sucks that I don’t get to play sports, because that is what I love to do. In order for me to still stay sharp in my skills and to stay in tip top shape, my sister and I do a workout every morning. Her soccer coach put a workout program together for the whole team. So we do that. Also, we go into the senior center fields to get some work in.
Sophomore Callie Hiser: My new daily routine revolves around my family’s ranch and our cattle. I spend my free time checking cows and doctoring calves. Our cattle are calving, so that means short nights and long days.
Junior Kalen Koch: Well I’ve been doing lots of cleaning and cooking, or sitting on my phone looking through social media, playing random games I downloaded etc. The homework and online school is a lot to get used to. It’s very confusing and also very frustrating since most of the teachers haven’t been doing a very good job
at responding to emails. Most of the assignments are also very vague and not explained very well making it difficult to
complete them.
Question: Are you still meeting/keeping in touch with your friends?
Lorenz: I haven’t been able to meet up with friends, but I frequently have calls with them. For my main friend I’ve been talking to, we both watch Netflix shows and movies alone or while on the phone and talk about them, in order to not be bored.
Lyle: No, I have not been able to see my friends because I am in a lot of trouble at my house, but I have been able to call them from time to time to be able to check up on them. But, I have been able to go and get fire wood and help around my house a lot since I am bored, but it helps my family a lot since we have such a crazy schedule here at my house.
Martell: To be honest I haven’t been spending a whole lot of time with my human friends because my animals have kind of been taking over my days. I have texted a few friends here and there with progress from jumping.
Quinton: No
Vandersnick: I don’t really meet up with any of my friends too often. I have been to some of my older friends’ house because they live nearby and are trying to help me with my stir craziness. My other friend I never get to see because of the distance. Instead, we are always calling and texting each other to discuss video games or concepts for books to write.
Koester: I haven’t met with my friends, solely because I get worried that either’s health might be in jeopardy.
Lipp: Also, while being away from, I have missed all of my friends. I do have social media, but talking to them through that is not the same as seeing them face to face. But, since I am not at school the whole day, I get to help my parents get work done around the house. Also, we have had more time to bond. Every night after dinner, we try to play a board game. It is a way to pass the time since there is nothing on TV. This past week I had a friend come over, because his sister was helping mine paint her room. We got to go on hikes, shoot some hoops, and watch some movies. It was fun getting to interact with one of my friends since we do not get to see each other while away from school.
Hiser: I have not seen or made plans with any of
my friends since school was canceled.
Koch: This whole quarantine has honestly made me and my friends not as close, we don’t talk as much as we nearly did, and we all mostly stick to our own.
Question: What has being quarantined taught you?
Lorenz: This quarantine has taught me that I’m super used to being anti-social and inside most times and that life stays pretty normal for me.
Lyle: What the quarantine has taught me is that I have to be patient and learn how to just deal with not being around my friends for almost three weeks. But, it also has taught me is that we, as the people of everywhere, that we need to stay clean, and wash our hands frequently. Also, to try not to get sick, but to just be able to keep clean, and wash everything down, and to wash our hands frequently.
Martell: The main thing that this virus quarantine has taught me is that people need to be careful more. Don’t be drinking out of friends’ water bottles because everyone has a different body type, so some people may not show being sick but inside they may be very sick.
Quinton: It has taught me nothing, (except) becom(ing) an introvert.
Vandersnick: This quarantine has taught me that, despite my severe social anxiety, I prefer people over the crushing loneliness. It has helped me realize just how much I value school for getting me out of the house and giving me things to do. Something good I have learned is to never take even the situations you dislike for granted because one day you may be thrown into an even worse situation and will be begging for things to go back to normal.
Koester: It’s taught me a lot. Coronavirus isn’t one to be down-played, but I know the United States’ president has not bothered to put much thought into it. It’s people like him that terrify me. People are dying, and he seems to be sitting idly.
Hiser: Quarantine has taught me to not plan everything out. Sometimes you can’t plan for something out of your power. People really need to be grateful for what they have.
Question: Are there both positive and negative impacts of the coronavirus, and what are they?
Lorenz: I think the only positive impact of the virus is that more people are seeing how important it is to do things we should be practicing every day (example, washing hands properly, avoiding too much physical contact, staying home if you feel sick, etc.). Otherwise, I feel the negative impacts are for the students. The seniors aren’t able to enjoy their last year to the fullest because of this, and we aren’t really allowed to do much during the quarantine.
Lyle: Yes, I think there are both positive and negative thoughts and two for negative would be that it is taking out a lot of people, and everyone is making it out to be a big deal, when really it is your average flu. And another negative would be that we are running out of toilet paper, and other cleaning supplies to help us stay clean. A positive one would be that there is more family time with your family if you don’t have time to be with them, unless they are still working while all of this coronavirus stuff is going on. But another positive would be that we get to be away from people that we have seen five days a week, but it also means that we miss them, and in my situation I miss being with kids my own age, and so it is both negative and positive for me. But, I am glad that I am not with the kids that bully me, but I miss a lot of my friends.
Martell: I think that the virus definitely is having many impacts on people. Many people are dying because of it, and it’s not a good thing. I think something that is good about the virus is that people can notice and learn from this virus that bad things can happen worldwide and that it can affect so many people in different ways.
Quinton: No, just negative.
Vandersnick: There are always pros and cons to a virus such as COVID-19. To start simply, people will die, others will get sick, and some may crawl out of this with lifelong effects. While this virus is something no one wants to get, people are panicking more than they should because of the media of over-hyping this epidemic. This is what is causing people to lose their jobs, schools to get shut down, etc. On the bright side, however, is this “catastrophe” teaches people the dos and don’ts of dealing with issues such as this. “Don’t hoard necessities” because food will spoil or others will go without supplies and “practice personal sanitation/cleanliness”. Also, people are learning to not trust the media as much as they have been; this is good because a majority of platforms exaggerate stories to get viewers.
Koester: Honestly, the only negative impact is that people are realizing that these viruses aren’t going to go away. There’s always going to be a pandemic, and when it dies down, another will pop up later in time. It shows people that they need to be prepared. The negative impacts are death, clearly, but homeless people and broke college students have no way to protect themselves. Campuses are kicking students out, and homeless people are subjected to the virus every day. Not
to mention that stockpiling has lessened their chances for survival. It really shows that health care in the U.S. isn’t as good
as Americans make it to be. If you also compare the U.S. to other countries, you’ll see that other countries are taking
more precautions.
Hiser: I believe there are positives and negatives to this pandemic. COVID-19 is a natural population control. Every ecosystem needs something to control the population of its inhabitants. However, we don’t want people we know becoming victims of this virus.
Koch: Personally, I don’t like this whole thing. I understand the point because a lot of people, if they do not get treated early, they could suffer a fatality. I think a lot of people need to learn to calm down and not be so needy. They listen too much to ill-informed people about this whole deal. With people buying things such as flour and sugar and eggs and that stuff, it’s very frustrating for someone with a family as big as mine. I have a family of six, and we can’t find a lot of necessities that we need because everyone is buying all of it, which is very unnecessary.
Vandersnick: As a senior, Vandersnick said she will miss having prom but is grateful to have already gone three times. However, she is sad about not being able to have a formal graduation after all the hard work the class of 2020 has put in, she said.