Coping with Corona

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
—Viktor Frankl

I was so hopeful that we would go back to school so I could finish my sophomore year. I was supposed to be playing ultimate frisbee for the second year with all of my best friends. I was supposed to get my driver’s license in April. But, none of this happened because Corona took it. The virus is taking a lot from everyone, including me. I believe we can learn a lot from this. People change and we have to adapt; not everything is only ever about you, everyone copes in different ways.

I’ve had to adapt from going to 7 long, dreadful hours at school to barely doing 2 hours on most days. Which in my mind isn’t a bad change, but with all good comes the bad. We have been told to social distance ourselves from the outside world. This idea started on 3/15/20 when the governor announced that we would be transferring to online learning. I have been in social distancing ever since and, well, really for us it has been lockdown. My mom has had our house on lockdown since that order. I have been handling it well because it’s like my normal lifestyle, but my sister gets cranky and doesn’t like being in the house all the time. This was really a big change to be not able to hang out with my best friend and to be cut off from the outside world.

One thing about this virus is that even on the lockdown order, people are wandering about outside. The reason we have the order is to keep people safe, but some don’t realize not everything is about them. I have been sitting at home, watching movies and not going outside because I know we are not supposed to. So to keep myself busy I love to watch movies. I watch the same ones on repeat because I have nothing better to do. I have also been catching up with the TV shows I was missing because of school. (I recommend if you like Grey’s Anatomy to watch The Night Shift, it’s better.) I have also been doing logic puzzles to keep my brain working. I have also been texting my friends, complaining about how people just don’t like to follow rules because we have nothing better to talk about. We have all been doing the same thing recently, so it can be hard to find something better to talk about.

One big lesson coming out of this is that everyone copes in different ways. My mom likes to talk and think out loud, my sister will gladly talk to her in return. I like to sit in my room with my Christmas lights on and do nothing. Like I said before, I like to watch movies and TV shows and read books. My dad doesn’t like the fact that I don’t like to go outside, but I love to sit in my room. Aside from me, I know there are people who are really struggling with the lockdown. One of my really good friends struggles with the lack of social communication and it sucks because I don’t know how to help. However, I thrive off of being alone, so lucky for me I’m good.

This virus is taking a toll. I think with all this bad and negativity around this virus, people have also had so much growth. Through this virus people are also learning resilience and how to push through when things get hard. One thing I learned is that you can never be too prepared when it comes to things like pandemics. Through it all, one thing most definitely learned is that there is a rainbow around every corner, even if from where you’re standing you don’t see it.

—Olivia

Share your own story here. Sharing stories is a powerful way to connect with other people. Be part of the Teen Health & Wellness Personal Story Project—like Olivia did above—and share your story about successfully dealing with or overcoming a challenge.