by Elsie Gin

Apocalypse...those were the first words that came to me as I heard that Cony High School was closing for two weeks due to the Coronavirus pandemic. It was sunday, March 15, and I was trying to wrap up my homework while preparing for the week. My mom suddenly called me and my sister to the living room, claiming she had news for us. Then came the bomb: school was closed for two weeks. I was dumbfounded because I was still trying to get over the shock that the Chizzle Wizzle shows were closed to the public till May, and the Ball was also closed to non-Cony students 3 days earlier after the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in Maine.

It was like a dream, because everything was happening so fast: schools were slowly closing, my parents started to work from home, and we had to slowly adjust ourselves to this new way of life. I started to think about how this was going to affect my school year. Missing some days of school meant we would have to make up for them, which means shorter summer months. My mind started to drift towards the amount of school work we would miss and how we would have to work hard to make them up. Thoughts of the possibility of not even graduating started to pop up in my head. Did this mean the days I have missed will affect the graduation? It felt more disheartening because I said goodbye to my friends, thinking I'll see them on Monday, like every other weekend, but I never knew that over the course of three days a decision had been made that will hinder me from seeing them for months.

I try to be optimistic every day. I make sure I do activities that ensure I achieve a goal in a day. It's really hard to put structure in my day. But I make sure I read, eat healthy, and take a walk. On the bright side, this is an avenue to bond with my family and play games with them. Also, i've used this opportunity to work on passions that I normally wouldn't have time to work on due to school and homework. I do miss alot about school, but I'm making the most of each day!