Alexandra Pawlitz

This pandemic has changed my life in so many ways. At first, I didn’t think that it was a big deal until our school shut down for a few weeks, and everything started to shut down shortly after that. Once all colleges and public and private schools in Michigan were closed, I knew that this was a serious issue, and I probably wouldn’t be able to finish my junior year at SLHS. I got a text message in the middle of Pre-Calculus on the Friday that we left school from my parents saying that our spring break trip to Florida got canceled. I was so angry, and I knew they did this because of the coronavirus. Later on, I came to realize that was the best option for our safety and that they were only looking out for us. 

The absolute worst part about this pandemic is not being able to see the people I love. Normally, I would go to school every day and have face-to-face conversations with them and not worry about being six feet away. Now, everything has changed, and I’m not able to see any of the people I care about. I’ve driven myself to my boyfriend’s house many days in a row because I find it hard to be apart from him. It has been over 60 days since I’ve actually hung out with him normally, and it’s the most awful thing to experience. I’ve also driven myself to my friend’s house and engaged in a social distance visit. This has helped me so much because it was amazing to be able to see their faces and be able to have an actual conversation with them. Being apart from your loved ones is one of the hardest things to do, and it’s had a toll on my quarantine experience. I’ve had many breakdowns in the three months that we’ve been in quarantine, and many days I’ve had to take drives to help clear my head. 

Most of the days I spend my time watching Netflix or hanging out with my family. I’ve binge-watched many tv shows, and I just finished The Vampire Diaries, and now I’m in the process of watching Grey’s Anatomy. Before quarantine, I barely had any time to watch tv shows, but now I have all the time in the world to watch and finish a bunch of them. Every night, my family and I sit down and play board games until we go to bed. We’ve also ordered new board games off of Amazon and Meijer to help keep us busy during this time. 

There are so many negatives of this pandemic, so it’s hard to think of one positive, but I came up with one. The ONLY positive I can think of is the opportunity to become closer to family members living in your house and develop stronger relationships with them. Since all of us are quarantined, we are able to communicate and get to know things about family members that we didn’t know prior to COVID-19. 

Overall, this pandemic has opened my eyes to the world, and I’ve discovered that I love being surrounded by the people I love. Being apart from them is the hardest part for me, and I cannot wait until the day a vaccine is introduced into the world and everything can go back to normal. This time may be a tough time for everyone, but I know that we can all get through it if we work together.

Kaylyn Collins

At first, I thought the outbreak was nothing to worry about, but after everything started to close down, big events were canceled, and then school canceled, I began to understand that this is actually serious. The very first week seemed to literally drag on like it was one month. At the end of the week, my sister, my nephew, and I were supposed to leave Michigan to go to Kansas for our own “spring break.” Then, a couple of days before our departure, the cases rose by thousands, and we decided not to leave to prevent getting it.

I’d say the worst part about this is not being able to return to school to see all of my friends and teachers. They have a huge impact on me on a daily basis, especially the teachers. After being three weeks in, I’ve had many crying sessions. After they announced that it will be extended yet another three weeks, I knew that the school year was pretty much over. Another bad thing about this pandemic is that I could not finish the softball season that my teammates and I prepared for.

I’ve been spending most of my time catching up on family time and focusing on myself. I have started reading books that I have never had time to even start reading. I have grown closer to my family even if I don’t want to be stuck with them 24/7. I have learned many new things about them, like my four-year-old nephew can do five push-ups, and my sister can actually cook something that tastes good.

Overall, this pandemic has had many bad parts, but also many good parts. I know having this distance learning is going to be difficult, but I know that our strong community can push through and be ready for next year.

Patrick Hanley

In general, it seems whenever anybody says quarantine, negativity can be sensed from the following response or body language. People view quarantine as a bad thing.  When in reality, if people would just stay home, we wouldn’t have to quarantine. Personally, I am enjoying this time off to reflect on my last four years at St. Louis High School and ultimately look at what I would like to do after completing school. 

A new skill I prodded out of myself during this mandated stay-at-home order is playing guitar. Throughout the past few weeks, I’ve spent time familiarizing myself with the different chords and keys to play at. Overall, it’s been a fun way to pass the time. Other than guitar-playing, I’ve been working from three to six hours a week.

The worst part of quarantine I’d say is missing out on the senior festivities; senior prom, senior all-night party, and especially graduation.

Ethan Wilson

When it comes to the coronavirus, it has affected my way of life drastically. After school, I would usually go and hang out with my friends, but since we are told to stay away from each other the only way I can Interact with my friends is through social media. 

Sitting in the house not being able to do anything has made me realize my true feelings about school. If I had the choice to go back to school, I would without a doubt. Not being able to get that social interaction is taking a toll on me mentally. 

Another thing is, I’m unable to go visit my grandparents. I would normally stop there every morning before school to interact with them and drop off my dog. Since the quarantine, there are very few times I have been able to speak to my grandma. My family thinks it’s best to play it safe. 

What I have been doing to keep busy is staying active. My biggest way of staying active is working out. I have a weight room at my house, so it is very easy to access the equipment I need to train my body. I also see the weight room as an escape. I also play basketball and throw the football with my little sister. That’s one positive I’ve gotten out of this is that I’ve gotten a lot closer to my sister, and I’m appreciative of that.

Keegan Honig

This pandemic canceled basically all activities in the spring. Personally, the track season being canceled was one of the biggest disappointments for me because it would’ve been the first time I would be able to compete in track while healthy since middle school. I also feel extremely bad for our senior athletes because now they won’t have a senior season. Also, the steel band has practiced many, many hours throughout the year, and learned a lot of new songs, but almost all of our performances are in the spring, so they got canceled. This was one of the biggest letdowns for me.

I’ve been using this time by spending time with my family. My brother is home from college because of this pandemic, and so getting to see him more is a positive. I’ve also spent this time doing a lot of SAT prep, so that’s a huge positive because I have way more free time to do so now that school and all activities are canceled. A positive takeaway that everyone should take from this is that having normal, everyday life suddenly taken away shows you what you truly care about the most.