Social Distance Journal {volume one}

Hello everyone. How's life been treating you?
I assume all of you have heard and/or been affected by the news about Covid-19, school closures, and all that fun stuff. I'm here to bring you more of it. I'm sorry.
After my school was cancelled and moved online until the end of Spring Break, my journalism teacher asked us to keep a journal of how our days went. I've written about how my schedule has changed, interesting day-to-day events, and occasionally mentioned the news. I normally keep a journal, but as this was a class assignment and therefore less personal, I thought it would be fun to share with you guys.

Monday 3/16

I think the phrase of the day is "social distancing." That's what I do on a normal weekend, but suddenly it's become somewhat mandatory. People around me are panicking about being forced to stay home and miss things like church, trips, and extracurriculars. I might see it as free time, but some people use free time to socialize, so for them this is just isolation.
I'm sitting on the floor doing my homework, and I just found out that teachers aren't allowed to assign more than 2 hours of homework a week, which seems odd to me. Today I did dance online, too. It made me feel a little better. Better than what, I am unsure. It seems like sweating in my living room to broken and static-y gospel music will be the highlight of my day.

 This is my school arrangement. No, I don't have a desk.

An addition that didn't make it into the journal entries: You might remember that I was homeschooled up until 9th grade, and then again the second semester of that year. It hasn't taken much to switch back into homeschooling mode, for which I am grateful. I do my homework, go to any online lessons I have, chill on the floor for a bit, and play the Sims. That's about how every day goes.

Tuesday 3/17

I feel sick today, and that's making it hard to do school. I've been sitting in bed doing history for the past 3 hours, and the assignment shouldn't have taken that long. I keep falling asleep, which is not helpful. I would sit on the floor to keep myself awake, but the floor is unfriendly. It's also cold. I only have one blanket, and I don't feel like choosing whether I should sit on it or wrap myself in it.
My mom ordered groceries to pick up from Kroger, and I could tell they were either rushed or running out of things. They put six items in one bag, which is impressive coming from Clicklist. Normally they're like, "Oh, you bought a single granola bar? Better bag that separately." Unlike the rest of my family, I haven't left the house since Thursday. I don't have an issue with this. Now that the weather is nice, I can wander wherever, and I could even walk around the neighborhood if I wanted, but I haven't yet.

Photographer selfie!

Wednesday 3/18

Today I drew two things. It would be nice to keep drawing for a while, since that's a hobby that I've forgotten about for a while. I'm starting a blog post, too. (Hi, blog readers. How're you doing?) Look at me being productive. Other current goals include finishing Children of Blood and Bone and writing more scenes for Scouts.
I've been listening to Shape Shift with Me by Against Me! all day. Later I have dance again, and I think that's it.

Thursday 3/19

Today I tried #quarantinesplits as inspired by Juliemarshalldoesthings on Instagram. It involved taking a picture of myself doing a split across two pieces of furniture, and the split was pretty easy, unlike actually taking the picture. The number of falls and weird faces I have in my camera roll now is somewhat satisfying. Today is also my one year anniversary of joining C.H., a Discord server that I help moderate.
In the math Zoom lesson today the teacher left and it became effectively a Facetime call between a bunch of pre-cal students. Lucas briefly streamed Dark Souls for us and someone else was watching the lesson while mowing the lawn (with video on!) He dropped one of his Airpods in the lawnmower. The main reason I stayed in the lesson was because I found it incredibly entertaining.
I realized that opening my bedroom window makes sitting in my room a lot nicer.

I followed Mint around with my camera. She was not amused, but the flowers are looking beautiful right now.

Friday 3/20

I wrote a thousand words on Scouts today. I started two scenes that are pretty crucial to the ending, and I'm proud of that. The APUSH Zoom lesson managed to be just as chaotic as APUSH is normally. I doubt my teacher misses dealing with that. Otherwise, not much happened today. I babysat my brother for a while. I tried to FaceTime a friend, but between babysitting and her spotty WiFi, we couldn't make a time work. We're going to try tomorrow instead.
Today is the first I've heard of the stay-at-home orders. A friend from California is under one at the moment, as is the state of Illinois according to CNN. I have to wonder how they'll enforce that. What counts as essential? It's a bit vague, but at least they're trying. Maybe it'll stop the people who keep ignoring warnings and going out in large groups.

So that was how my first week of online school/quarantine went! Part two will be coming next week, I hope. Stay safe, wash your hands, and don't isolate yourself! If you're like me, it can be tough to remember to interact with people when you aren't required to leave your room, but it's very important.

 

(Will I be posting more now? I make no promises.)