My life during quarantine

March 11th. I had spent the whole day organizing my sister’s surprise birthday party. Running around to do groceries and pick the most delicious white strawberry cake. The stores in Prishtina were packed with people panic-buying, scared of this virus that surfaced in China. Well, my family and I did not think much about it. We had a beautiful day ahead of us. My sister had turned twenty-five that day and we were gathering to celebrate the birth of someone that brings joy into our life. It is already nine in the evening. Candles were blown out; a delicious cake was gone, and the nice music filled all the rooms. We turn on the TV and this is where the constant worry and panic began. Schools and universities were closing due to the risk of the virus spreading. The birthday party was over. It was time to grab our bags and go back home in Gjilan.

As the lockdown started, I spent the days anxiously reading the news. The cases of COVID-19 were rising and so did the concern for our future. The constant worry took over me. Are we going to die or are we going to survive? Negative thoughts filled my mind. This is not how I was planning to spend my second year in university. I woke up every day and attended online classes. I finished everything necessary for class and went on short walks around the yard. These were my days until I realized that I do not have to restrict myself. I started revisiting my old hobbies. Once I started, I got totally consumed by it and lost sense of time. I cooked food from different cultures, did yoga for beginners, learned traditional dances and improved my drawing skills. I gained a positive outlook in life and I was willing to work on myself.

After two months in lockdown, I participated in a UNICEF workshop that aimed the implementation of mental health projects. This workshop called PODIUM: Advocacy for Change required teamwork to win a small grant. After a week of challenging tasks, my friends and I won a small grant of five hundred euros so we could make an impact in the community of Kosovo. With this grant, we created an online platform called “Pranë Teje”, which offered teenagers free psychological services with a therapist. This project gave me a real goal during the pandemic. It made me realize that even simple people can make a positive impact in the community.

It was finally June and quarantine was over. We finally had freedom of movement. People returned to work. Restaurants, coffee shops and stores reopened. It finally felt a little normal again even though I knew that the journey back to normal would be long. However, I was fine with it. I had already come to terms with our new life. What matters most is that I had finally created a healthy relationship with myself. Indeed, it took us a pandemic to realize how capable we are to help ourselves and others around us.