Coping as a College Student During Quarantine*

*Please note this article was originally written on April 29, 2020, near the beginning of social distancing. We decided to include this blog to illustrate important events within the Emory Community, and to demonstrate the resilient attitude of our community members.

One of the most enjoyable things about life is having your own routine. The little things you do at certain points in the day can also be the things that make you happy and get you up in the morning. The minute we lose this sense of routine, like many of us have during quarantine, we start to lose our minds a little. My routine at Emory University is something I’ve always loved, but maybe I never appreciated it enough now that it’s gone. Driving to Atlanta to pack up my dorm in one day and not being able to see anyone before leaving was not only awful but extremely weird. The exciting, fun campus I knew just weeks before was now a depressing ghost town. 

Even though I would love to be with my friends right now doing arguably dumb things and bingeing Love is Blind on my crappy couch in Clifton Towers, I can’t. 2020 has been a difficult year for the world in general, but I’m coming to terms with the downsides because COVID-19 is something so much bigger than all of us. We are all in this fight together, so stay inside and try to do little things to keep you positive and occupied. “Practice Social Distancing” is now the most popular statement of the year. 

There are so many things I miss right now as I type this from my bed that I haven’t left in 19 days. The first few days were tough because I was confused and uncertain about what was to come. Where I am now is proud. Watching all the first responders and the world come together has been beautiful to watch. Not only that, I think that this is a perfect time to get to know yourself a little better. I don’t know about you but legitimately my whole life I’ve said I wish I could just stay inside for a week and binge Netflix. I guess in an extremely messed up way, I got my wish? 

When I don’t think about all the things I’m missing out on, or the constantly being bored out of my mind, my new routine is kind of a dream. It now consists of waking up around noon (I know that’s bad, trying to improve), putting on a bathing suit to get some sun and work done outside (I’m from Florida), eating (bagel bites 24/7), and bingeing Netflix. My top shows right now are All American, Tiger King, and Love Island season 6. My biggest fear is that I’m gonna be an extremely awkward person after this whole experience due to lack of human contact for so long. So, Facetime is a lifesaver. I’ve even downloaded the app HouseParty again from the good old Middle School Days. It’s great because you can talk to people that you wouldn’t usually just call on Facetime in an unarranged group setting. Zooming with a lot of people (that aren’t your classmates) is another really fun thing I’ve been doing. I change my zoom background maybe every second. 

I’ve started to appreciate the little things in life during this whole process which makes me confident that we are going to come out of this better than before.

Paige Kokolakis 22C
Political Science and Media Studies
Dunedin, FL

This article was originally published on the HerCampus website. It has been republished here in-full with the author’s permission. Read the original article by visiting: https://www.hercampus.com/school/emory/my-thoughts-quarantine-and-how-i-m-coping-college-student

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