Everything Happens For a Reason
“Accepting and embracing this situation is the best thing I can do.”
In my dreams, being in quarantine meant no school and no more annoying alarms. But to my surprise, it has been the complete opposite. I still have to listen to the alarm, pressing snooze several times until I have only five minutes left to turn on Zoom, an online learning platform. When I open Zoom, the first thing I see are puffy eyes and the unkempt hair of my classmates. The rest of the day is packed with class after class and there isn’t much difference than being physically at school.
Only a few days after the Safer-at-Home order was announced, I came to the realization that I hate being kept at home. Hanging out at my aunt’s place after school gradually became routine. (No worries, we live in the same apartment.) The reason why I prefer her house over mine is because of the Nintendo Switch, my current obsession. My favorite game is Overcooked, a co-op cooking game where you prepare, cook, and serve food orders within a time limit. The game gets intense and time flies by so fast that I come back to my house only when my mom demands for me to get some sleep.
Because of this quarantine, our family developed a new hobby: going to supermarkets for no reason. Our desire to go out is fulfilled at markets, which is unusual because the market would be the least desirable place for me to go before quarantine. Our refrigerator is packed with food, yet the market has more to offer.
Also, my mom, who does not like to stay home, drags me to take a walk around our neighborhood. She even designed her own one-hour walking route. With the quarantine in effect, even walking has come to be meaningful.
During this quarantine, I feel determined to make my life more worthwhile. Living in a world full of panic and fear, I realize the value of time. Some may think that this time is useless, but personally I feel like it’s the perfect opportunity to look back upon my life and really explore more about myself. As a firm believer of the idea, “everything happens for a reason,” accepting and embracing this situation is the best thing I can do.
(April 24, 2020)