More students from Bellarmine College Preparatory in the United States share their 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: Lucas, 14, Bellarmine College Preparatory, USA

« The Coronavirus has affected everyone around the world in some way, in my country, the USA, people are hoarding materials including food, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and more. Getting through this epidemic has been hard, so many of my daily routines have changed, obviously, I don’t go to school anymore.

This was my biggest change because I’ve never done online classes before. Another change I had to make was being more active on my own because I was involved in sports so now that it is gone, I need exercise. This time has been bad and good at times, it has been bad because I miss my friends and miss sports, but it has been good because I have been able to rest and spend more time with my family. Our Society should learn from this crisis to become more prepared early; if we were prepared earlier then we could have had supplies already at home, so we never had to go to public areas.

Lastly, I am concerned about the number of people this is killing and worried about the elderly because they are the most at-risk groups of people. I hope that this all blows over soon, and somebody finds a cure. »

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

« The Coronavirus pandemic is just beginning in the United States. The numbers are growing faster and faster every day. It is quite a scary thought knowing that a virus is completely shutting down our vast economy. More specifically in Santa Clara county we are just past 500 cases and near 20 deaths. The whole county and surrounding counties are under shelter in place. All businesses are closed except for essential stores like grocery stores. This has made a huge impact on my everyday life. I have school at home now and it’s just not the same as school. Whenever my family needs groceries we are lucky if they aren’t sold out of the items we need. Everyone is limited to certain items in the grocery store, so people don’t buy in bulk, but it still manages to completely sell out.

One of the biggest challenges for me is not being able to go outside and exercise. I used to always go play baseball and football with my friends but now i am unable to. One gift in my opinion is that we are burning fewer fossil fuels, so we are becoming greener every day. This makes me feel good because after all the harm we have done for our planet this is a good thing that our planet is recovering. I believe our society should learn that we need to be more careful and cleaner. For example, we really need to wash our hands often, so we don’t spread germs to other people and cause a global problem. Our society should also learn that we should be prepared for absolute worst-case scenarios, this includes enough supplies for hospitals. Our society should also learn that we need to reduce the amount of fossil fuels we burn because at the end of the day we are nothing without our Earth.

My concern is that our world leaders will prioritize the economy rather than the health of their people in their country. But they need to realize our economy is nothing without jobs and millions of healthy people working. My hopes are that we contain the virus and our leaders decide to put the whole country in shelter in place. We are only a few days behind Italy and we don’t have a lot of time to make important decisions. I also hope everyone is taking this seriously and staying home because if they don’t this will impact everyone across the world. »

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

« My name is AJ Resop and I am a freshman in high school. When this Covid-19 disease hit the U.S. my family and I where confused about what it was just like most of my fellow Americans. There was a lot of speculation on the news about what this virus was and almost none of it was helpful. Most of the news was scarring people instead of giving them hope.

Right now, from what I know we are trying to develop a vaccine. My schedule has been better due to me staying home and getting sleep. I play water polo and swim so I have been doing the workouts at home instead of my high school gym.

The challenges from this situation are ignorant people saying ignorant things. Everyone is at home watching the news medias and there are very few networks that are giving actual facts. My family and I have been watching Fox News where President Trump is addressing the nation with Doctor Fauci the head of infectious diseases. Dr. Fauci is giving facts and not feeding America with lies.

As I am writing this essay Congress just passed the two trillion-dollar coronavirus relief so that Americans who make seventy five hundred or less receive twelve hundred dollars or more in relief help. I personally hope that the world comes together to figure something out with this coronavirus. »

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

« COVID-19 is blasting around the U.S. and it forced my state to declare a shelter-in-place protocol. This means my family and I have to stay home for everything except for essential activities like daily walks and grocery shopping. All businesses have been shut down except for essential businesses like grocery stores (unless you work from home). All social gatherings are now barred from occurring, and all social interaction must incorporate social distancing. And man, it sucks.

Ever since the shelter-in-place was ordered, I’ve felt alone. School was transitioned to online learning, and while I enjoy the presence of a routine from it, physical class has no substitute, and education quality has deteriorated as a result. I have lost a lot of willpower, so I feel like a lazy recluse at times, procrastinating on homework and responsibility. When I’m not working, I’m either playing Minecraft or watching YouTube videos (old habit). Physical health has suffered a bit, because I have to work out with less equipment and less supportive people. Family has been my only social constant. I rely on them for sanity in these troubling times.

I recently discovered a Minecraft streamer and got motivated from watching him. This suggests that watching people with similar interests to you can fill some needs for social interaction, so I’ll spend time watching him and see how it affects me in these troubling times. Otherwise, I feel alone. »

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

« Throughout the daily life of coronavirus, I will leave the house perhaps only once a day to run outside and exercise. My routine has changed in which I am suddenly in possession of much free time at home. I’ve been able to spend more time with family; however, I miss my friends and school as well. As a student, I try hard to maintain a high GPA, but unfortunately, this event has certainly made learning more tedious, in addition to making me lazier with the temptations of home. As a result, student life has become more difficult for me.

As a country, I believe we were not ready for a pandemic. Leadership was taken far too late and the virus continues to generate panic. People are taking more supplies and food than necessary, leaving out essentials for other families. Others may not even afford to survive at home without work, and not to mention the homeless struggle even greater. Therefore, our society needs to use this opportunity to learn and prepare for future global pandemics.

Although our country now officially carries the most infected people, I believe we will soon reduce our numbers drastically as instructions have been ordered and precautions have been implemented. I hope other countries around the world improve upon their situations so we may end this event and its terror once and for all. »

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

« During these hard times, a lot has changed. For example, no one can go outside, and we cannot see our friends and hangout. I also cannot go out and exercise or go to swimming practice. These changes have significantly impacted my life. I am usually a more outdoor kind of person. Sitting inside all day and looking at the screen to study makes me agitated. When school ended, I was thrilled thinking about not going to school having the whole day to myself. I can go running with my dog and go swimming practice. However, when my parents told me I could not. This has affected my health significantly. I don’t feel as strong as I use to. Because there is so much, you can do at home. I try doing ab workout and jump roping, but I still feel weaker. Okay now on the bright side, I have caught up on sleep and I have been able to see my family more. I could eat anytime and anywhere I want without a teacher saying to put it away, and I have been eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my family, which is fantastic because I haven’t been able to do that as much because of school.

During these hard times, a lot has changed. For example, no one can go outside, and we cannot see our friends and hangout. I also cannot go out and exercise or go to swimming practice. These changes have significantly impacted my life. I am usually a more outdoor kind of person. Sitting inside all day and looking at the screen to study makes me agitated. When school ended, I was thrilled thinking about not going to school having the whole day to myself. I can go running with my dog and go swimming practice. However, when my parents told me I could not. This has affected my health significantly. I don’t feel as strong as I use to. Because there is so much, you can do at home. I try doing ab workout and jump roping, but I still feel weaker. Okay now on the bright side, I have caught up on sleep and I have been able to see my family more. I could eat anytime and anywhere I want without a teacher saying to put it away, and I have been eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with my family, which is fantastic because I haven’t been able to do that as much because of school. »

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

« The coronavirus is spreading rapidly around the world, and it is not clear when the pandemic will subside. While it started in China, it has now spread all over the world, including the United States. In fact, it is possible that the U.S. will become the next epicenter of the coronavirus because we have more cases than any other country. The outbreak is most apparent in three U.S. communities: New York City, which has nearly half of U.S. coronavirus cases, Washington, and California. Many states have a mandatory shelter-in-place order right now to combat the virus.

The coronavirus has greatly affected my daily routine. The biggest change has been school. My school has shut down, and everything is now online. This is a pretty big challenge, because it is often harder for me to get help from my teachers because I cannot speak to them in person. Also, doing schoolwork from home is harder because it is much easier to get distracted at home. Another challenge for me has been taking care of my health. Since I am under a shelter- in-place order, it is hard for me to go outside, exercise, and get air, even though I need it. However, the silver lining is that I get to spend more time with my family. Because of online school, I have reduced schoolwork and get to spend more time with my family. Also, both my parents and my little brother are home, so I can eat lunch with them every day.

Overall, the coronavirus outbreak has given me some insight into society. It has shown me how connected the world is, because this virus has spread around the world so quickly. It has taught me the importance of keeping our environment healthy, because this disease started in animals but was passed to humans. For the future, I believe that we need to get our act together, or more diseases like this are bound to happen. We have had too many epidemics and pandemics this century, from SARS to swine flu to Ebola. Unless if we change, more epidemics and pandemics will come after this. Society should learn a lot from this crisis, especially that our healthcare system needs to be more prepared for pandemics like this. Hospitals are being overwhelmed with coronavirus cases, and they were not ready when this disaster hit. Also, we do not have enough tests, which is dangerous for public health.

I have many concerns and hopes stemming from the coronavirus outbreak. First, I am concerned about our ability to handle this pandemic. Cases are still going up exponentially, and we are not read to fight this outbreak. Second, I am concerned about the economy. The stock market is plummeting, and unemployment is rising. If we do not control the situation soon, we could go into a recession. However, I hope that we can get through this fast enough and that we can minimize the number of deaths and other negative effects. Overall, I think that we can get through this pandemic if everyone does their part, from social distancing to not hoarding supplies. »

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

« The things I do during a daily basis during quarantine because of Corona Virus are workout, exercise, Facetime friends, and play video games. I do outside a lot because my parents think going outside is better for me then just staying in the house the whole entire day. When I go outside, I ride my bike to the park and workout or play basketball. This usually happens after school because during my online school I am my room for eight hours. The gifts and graces from this situation are that there are a lot of chances for me to do my homework during school. For example, during school I spend my time walking to other classes or talking to friends, but at home I don’t have to move afoot to go to my next class, so I just spend time doing homework.

These changes did not impact my daily routines because I do the same exact thing every day, but just from home. I prefer online school because there are more videos to watch and right after filling out a worksheet. In school, I would have to sit there are listen to the teacher talk about random stuff, but in the videos, it gets straight to the point which I like. I think society should learn that it is always good to have a savings account because right now a lot of people are losing their jobs and it is hard to find work. In the end, those are my activities are a quarantine day. »