My students are sharing more stories as part of the global project “A Day in my Life: living under the Covid-19 Pandemic.” We hope you and your students enjoy reading them!

To see all reflections shared so far go to the Educate Magis Covid-19 page

A Day in my Life: Knox, 14, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

In our country, covid-19 has caused many shutdowns and problems. We cannot leave our homes unless it is for a needed item and we cannot go and visit our friends. I, however, think that this is a good idea. The reason why I think this is because the only way we are going to be able to stop this virus outbreak is by staying inside to reduce its spread. The changes have been very boring but for me, very relaxing at the same time. The reason why this virus has caused me boredom is that I am not allowed to leave the house to go and visit my friends. The outbreak is relaxing at the same time due to the fact that I do not have to be in a rush at all. I think that we could have prevented this disease if we were more careful about what we ate and we were more cautious. I think that our society should learn that we should be more prepared. By this, I am saying that we should have sheltered in place at an earlier time. I think that this could have saved lives and prevented the spread at the same time.

A Day in my Life: Liam, 14, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

When I first caught word, that school could potentially be cancelled due to the Coronavirus, I was ecstatic. At that point I was beyond tired from my numerous Speech & Debate tournaments and meetings, the countless Track practices and meets, and the overload of schoolwork that I received every day. At that point, I was begging for at least one day off; one day where I can sleep in past 6:30am. At the end of my Track mock meet, when I realized that school was “cancelled” for two weeks, I was beyond happy. I instantly began making plans to meet with my friends during “break”. It wasn’t until our “break” was extended to three weeks that I truly understood the situation that we are in.

After some much needed rest (and some disappointing online classes) I realized how much I truly admired school. I stopped viewing school as meaningless work and tedious class meetings, and instead as a haven where I can interact with my friends and share my struggle with them, while also accompanying that grief with a few laughs. I miss everything, from Speech & Debate meetings to the struggle of running steady states in Track. But what I miss most is sharing those experiences with friends who also shared in the pain.

I will acknowledge the fact that this “break” has closed the gap between my family and I, whether that be for better or for worse. These weird changes have impacted my daily routine in a drastic way, as I went from waking up early in the morning and traveling all the way to school, to waking up 5 minutes before my first period and walking to my first class from the comfort of my bed. In addition, I believe I have interacted with my family more often than I usually do during this break than any other time in my life. Even with this close relationship, I still miss school and can’t wait to go back to my daily, grueling routine.

A Day in my Life: Logan, 15, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

Many people have changed their daily routines due to Covid-19. In the United States the virus has spread so much that all communities are being quarantined. Since these changes have happened, I haven’t been able to meet up with friends or family in a while. I am also not able to go to my gym daily and stay fit, so I must make exercises at my house. Some challenges I have faced are online learning and adapting to how I am able to learn from home.

I am grateful that my school has kept us away from face to face contact with each other to decrease the spread of Covid-19. The outbreak across the world has made me worried for the future of people’s health and safety. Any major outbreak can send our world into a severe distress. Our society must learn to not spread objects that may be infected or to not go anywhere if you are majorly sick. Some of my concerns that I hope to not happen is for the virus to get even more worse that the whole world will be surrounded by Covid-19. I also hope that because of this outbreak people will learn to be more mindful of when they are sick and to always wash hands constantly.

A Day in my Life: Luke, 14, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

Coronavirus is spreading rapidly in our country, the United States of America. Because of this our country has a travel ban to Europe. Also, where I live everyone near me is in self quarantine so we can only stay in our house except for purchasing necessities like food. This has impacted my daily routine because I live about an hour away from my school and because our school got closed, I can wake up 2 hours later at 8:00. This allows me to do school in my bed which is very comfortable. Also, now after school I will play basketball with my older brothers for an hour or so.

Some challenges that have come from this is that it can be a struggle to get off my phone or laptop because it’s not like I can go and hang out with my friends So I will end up just spending a lot of time on my devices. Some good things that have come out of this is that I can spend more time with my family and play games with them.

One of my biggest concerns about the corona virus is that one, we won’t be able to find a cure for it. Also, I am very concerned with if our economy will be able to recover because the stock market has lost a ridiculous amount of money. However, I do hope that we can find a vaccine soon and that the stock market will recover. I think from a global point of view our society should know that when there is a global problem everyone needs to do their part and in this case that is staying quarantined.

A Day in my Life: Luke, 15, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

In Santa Clara County as of recent, there are 646 cases of the Coronavirus, and 142,402 cases in the whole United States. These numbers have led my School to close down until the end of the school year, most likely. Resolving in a canceled baseball season, shelter-in-place quarantine, and online classes. Challenges during these times are immense. Some examples of these difficulties are my sleep schedule, time management, and academics.

However, during our long-lasting break, I’ve definitely had to recover and rest from School and practice every day. Since we are only recommended to leave the house if it’s for essential purposes, I’ve had more time to myself and to just rewind. After much stress and anxiety from school. This break has truly been a gift of peace and rest.

Although there is lots of time to sit around and do nothing. A challenge during these times of quarantine is making sure I’m not falling back on my schoolwork. It is very easy to just set aside my classes when I’m tired, since I’m not physically present in a classroom. I’m in the comfort of my own room during the school day. Athletically, this cancelation of the season is an unfortunate change. The season was just getting started and the team was starting form as one. We only got a few baseball games in before we were cut short. At home, it is difficult to be responsible for maintain your talent and strength when you’re off the field.

A Day in my Life: Mason, 15, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

The Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted my life along with the rest of the world. In the USA Coronavirus is being spread very quickly, and at this time the USA has the most cases worldwide. In my community we are being quarantined. While this may sound bad, it is not actually that bad because we are not confined in our houses, unlike other areas. We are free to go to work, but most are not allowing employees to come and go, and we can go to places that are necessary. This includes places where you can acquire food, medical attention, or just accomplish physical needs such as taking a walk. These changes in my society have greatly impacted my daily life. At the start of my day, I can wake up much later because I do not need to get ready and drive to school. I am supposed to stay in my house, so I never really leave that often. I can eat whatever and however much I want at home, whereas at school I may have not packed enough food to satisfy my hunger. I have a lot freer time as well because I do not have any sorts after school. In this free time, I usually do some sort of physical activities to get my energy out and avoid fat build up from sitting around all day.

One challenge I have faced from virtual learning are me just losing focus. I sometimes get distracted and get up to get a snack or something or space out. At school, I would not have any of these problems. Another problem involves my family. My family can be very loud at times and that is very annoying. I sometimes am unable to hear things from my surface when my family is doing their calls or making food or just talking.

While I have many things to complain about COVID-19, it has given me multiple gifts. Since everyone is quarantined, I have had a lot of family time. I do not usually see my family for most of the day, so it is a nice change. Another gift is all the free time I have. I have always wanted to have free time as my day usually consisted of school, sports, then homework. Now all it is is less school and homework. I feel like the world consists of many paranoid people and we can only hope for the better in the future. I think many people are overacting about the Coronavirus. I do think that it is bad to some extent, but not to the extent where people are losing their jobs from the quarantine. I think people are overacting to be taking all the toilet paper and hand sanitizer in the store. I do think that the Coronavirus has hit its peak yet, so it will get worse before it gets better. This epidemic has helped the earth because of the lessened pollution. I hope that we notice this and try to keep it in good condition. I am concerned for those who have lose loved ones in this event. I also have concerns for those with the virus and those who have been affected financially and put into desperate circumstances.

A Day in my Life: Mason, 14, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

In my country, the coronavirus crisis has impacted everyone and forced us to quarantine ourselves. We are all inside most of the day and occasionally go outside to go on a walk to finally get out the house. This had impacted my daily routine immensely. For example, I am used to waking up early to drive to school. Now that school is online, I have much more time to get sleep and for that I am very thankful. However, there are many challenges that come about from COVID 19. Items that we take for granted such as toilet paper is sold out in many places and it is very challenging to get it. Luckily, my dad was smart and went and got some before it way completely out of stock. This made me begin to realize how serious this pandemic is.

A gift of grace that is from this situation for my family is that we have plenty of food and we get to spend more time with each other then we usually would during the weekdays. I am not too worried about the future, because I know the government will get everything under wraps and hopefully find a vaccine to this virus very soon. I have heard from many people in my family that the government did not act on the virus as fast as they should have. I am faithful that everything will work out soon enough. I am sad to hear about all the deaths that have come about as a result of this virus spreading. My family continues to pray often for the people effected.

From this crisis, out society should learn that we can all get through this if we work together to find a solution. Our society should also learn to act on issues like this much faster than we all did. My hopes for this virus is that we will find a vaccine and we will all get through this in a few months or a year. My concern is that this might take a long time to happen and there will be more deaths in the near future as a result of this virus spreading.

A Day in my Life: Matthew, 15, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

Hello, my name is Matthew and I am living through the coronavirus. Currently the country I live in USA has the most cases. Everyday thousands and thousands of more cases appear and millions of people are being affected by it. The market is crashing globally and affecting already many of my family members.

These changes in life has caused my school to shut down, sports, and any contacts with friends. The coronavirus has opened so much time for me, and this is not a good thing. I have so much time with so little to do. The main challenges for me is online school and staying in contact with the new friends I met this year. One thing I am very sad about is that my season for lacrosse was cancelled. Going into freshman year I was very excited about my season, my first high school sport, but because of this virus, this much looked forward too season was cancelled.

Although this virus is terrible one good thing that has happened because of it is that I am able to spend much more time with them. Our society should learn from this crisis and become more prepared for situations like these. Globally many countries were not prepared for this bad of a situation. Some concerns I have is when we might get back to regular life. All dates for things to come back have been postponed farther and farther, this worries me that getting back to regular life might not be for a long time and might be very different.