I’ve been trying to make the most of the time I have at home. During my normal COVID-19 free day, I often find myself complaining that I don’t have time for this or that. As a result, I’ve been recently trying to focus on certain skills during my time at home.

For one, I’ve been seriously trying to learn the guitar. I bought one for my birthday thinking that the hole in my bank account would inspire me to actually practice. It worked. And now that I’m stuck at home, I’ve been spending even more time in my room learning songs and jamming out.

Another skill I’ve been working on is reading. I’ve never been a reader. In fact, up until this year I’ve hated reading with a passion. However, I always associated reading with intelligence. Thus, I set a New Year’s Resolution to read 12 books this year, one for each month. I was already falling behind in January, but with this lockdown I’ve been able to catch up to my quota. It’s not yet April and I’m already on my fifth book! Even more, I’m genuinely enjoying reading for the first time.

As far as my typical day goes, I’ve been waking up at around 7:30AM as opposed to my previous 6:30. It’s crazy how much one extra hour and make me feel so much more energized! I’ll cook myself some breakfast and then “go” to classes. One challenge during my time at home is spending all this time with my dad. I love him, but we tend to butt heads, and that’s become even more frequent as of late. Anyways, after school I’ll usually do homework or go out to my backyard to exercise a little. After that, it’s back to homework, studying, guitar, piano, or reading. On occasion, I’ll hop on my PS4 and play some video games with my friends.

I know this pandemic has made many peoples’ lives tougher, and I pray for them. I also pray for those who are using this chaotic time as an opportunity for self-gain. I find that extremely selfish, and I wish we would all just help each other out in this time, even if that means staying out of each other’s ways for a couple weeks. That being said, I don’t feel that there’s much I can do just staying at home. So, I’m just trying to make my time at home as productive as it can be. Time is a blessing, and I’ve been blessed with tons of it lately. Therefore, I plan to use that time to be with my family and to better myself in any whatever way I can.

The rise of this crisis has been bad for everyone. However, my family has found a really bright diamond in the restrictive rough. My brother is a college football player, and my father works in another state. Given this, our house mostly only ever feels the presence of my mother and myself. Because of the unfortunate circumstances, my whole family is under one roof again.

Of course, this is not all good. Being stuck in the house has been taking a toll on my sanity as well as the sanity of my family. I have noticed that I am quicker tempered than usual, my parents are more easily frustrated, and my brother is taking full advantage of his break from practice.

I miss freedom. I miss people. I miss life as it was. I know that I, along with almost everyone else under quarantine, will emerge from this with a newfound appreciation for life. I will cherish all the time I have left with my friends in the bay area. In person, I will thank everyone who has helped me and express love to everyone I feel it for.

As I sit here reflecting upon the coronavirus and how it has impacted my senior year at Bellarmine College Preparatory, one conversation I had with a former Bellarmine alumni circles in my head as I try to make sense out of all that has occurred.

The summer before my freshman year I attended a football camp run by former Bellarmine football players. I remember vividly how those former Bells told me to embrace every step I take on the Bellarmine campus. That even when it gets hard whether it be in the classroom or on the field and I start to dread going to class to recognize the blessing it is to attend such an amazing school and especially during my senior year to take time to embrace the brotherhood and soak in those last few moments of such an amazing community.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus has prevented me from that opportunity those former Bells told me to take advantage of and I can only sit and ponder what I might be missing out on. As a second semester senior I was looking forward to seeing all my friends getting into college and celebrating with them on a daily basis at school as we walked from class to class and ate lunch at the tree, we hung out at for all four years of high school. I was looking forward to the baseball season of my senior year and playing my heart out during what would be my last at bats and times in the field playing competitive high school ball.

Yet despite all these unfortunate opportunities and experiences that were seemingly taken away from me at the blink of an eye, I have come to realize that lamenting all these losses gets me nowhere. I have realized that I have lost certain opportunities as a senior, but I have been presented with yet another opportunity to find the bright side of this situation and overcome it. I have been given the opportunity to spend time with my family more often watching nostalgic movies from my childhood. I’ve had an opportunity to spend time with my brother playing one on one in the front yard as we find something to do besides sitting on the couch playing MLB the Show 20. A theme I have found in this situation is opportunity, whether it be lost or gained, and I think that overall I have learned a great deal about being grateful for the experiences I have and to never take anything or anyone in my life for granted.

My area has just become one of the most infected areas of my state. Things are much different than they used to be. I defiantly feel the panic from others as grocery stores sellout of things like toilet paper or bottled water. I feel the panic from our leaders, who have put policy in place to hopefully end this virus in the near future. I think the reaction is appropriate and I appreciate everything that people are doing to help stop the spread, no matter how boring it may be.

I can confidently say that my life has indeed changed. I am a senior in high school, and this was not how I was planning to spend my senior year. Every day I wake up and “go” to online school. I do my work and then workout. I eat at the times we normally would eat. My routine is extremely repetitive, and we have only been doing this for a few weeks. I understand that we may have to do this for a long time, and I am fully willing to do so in hopes that we can return to normal soon.

I think the biggest challenge for me has been realizing that I might never go to my high school again to thank the teachers who changed my life and finally graduate after waiting four long years. It is hard that I must make a college decision in a time like this, but I also understand that there are many people out there who are not in the same position I am at the moment, so I am grateful for my opportunities and my blessings. However, I do feel that there is good in this situation. I plan on going to college across the country, so I am glad I can spend time with my family before I leave. I believe that the future is uncertain going forward. I always ask myself if things will ever go back to what I consider “normal”. I hope that it will, and I hope that I will get the opportunity to do the things I want to do in my life. I think that there is something to be learned, but I just do not know what it is yet. I hope we can fight this together and come out stronger.