Quinn F: In all honesty, I haven’t minded quarantine that much. Of course I miss seeing my friends, and my family can drive me crazy by being up in my room 24/7. I have a pretty good setup for school because I live in our attic, so I basically have a quiet floor to myself where I can just shut the door and zone into school. There are some days where I haven’t been motivated to do anything at all, but I’ve actually been getting a lot of work done (except for my art portrait, that I’ve been procrastinating very badly). 
In the past week I’ve been feeling sad about Field Day not happening because I love Field Week, but I would never want a virtual Field Day, that would just be pure chaos. A good thing that has come out of this is that I’ve had more time to do the things I like, and I’ve gotten a lot better at picking on guitar and learning harder chords. I’ve still been trying to keep a schedule, so each morning I wake up a couple minutes early to wash my face and brush my teeth, and then go into my dad’s office to have a cup of coffee with him. I just hope that this doesn’t continue into summer because if I will have nothing, like school, to keep me busy I’m going to get really bored.
Claire T: One month into quarantine and online classes. I miss getting food and driving around with my friends. I miss shopping and spending hours in the malls spending money that I don’t have. I feel that I have been stuck inside for years and it is getting harder to stay motivated. 
For one, I really don’t mind online classes. I still like being able to stay in bed all day and communicating to my class through a camera. Collaborating is almost easier and it almost seems like we are still in a classroom. I love spending this time with my dogs and I am starting to feel that they actually might like me back. They tend to calm me down when I get stressed out and worried about school. Although this online schooling is a perfect adaptation to the pandemic, I am sad to be missing the classic Marian traditions. Field Day is definitely different this year and will forever be remembered. I hope that this all ends by some miracle quickly so that the motivation and good beats throughout communities are turned up a notch.
Rachel A: One month into online learning and my perspective has remained intact. I have been feeling my way through the dark, as the rest of the world is. This journey remains uncharted territory in all of its aspects. My grades have been doing well
which makes the hours of online learning worth it. I enjoy the block day schedule and I have more time to complete my homework. It can be difficult when I dwell on the fact that there is no end in sight. Easter definitely made me aware of just how massive of a change this is. It was a milestone I never thought would come and it made reality sink in. However, I have been consciously trying to set a good mood for each day. One thing that has helped me stay on task and motivated is keeping my room clean. I have deep cleaned my entire room, bathroom and closet. Having an environment where I can feel productive and focus has been integral for me. All in all it is going as good as it can under the circumstances. Plus, my dad gave me the netflix password so I have plenty of entertainment to lift my mood.
Lexxi O: One month into online learning and it feels like it has been a decade. The days and weeks feel endless and I miss being in an actual classroom. I miss being able to hangout with all my friends and see them everyday. I wish I could go get food with them and then go to the mall and buy more clothes. I feel like I have ran out of things to do 
besides sleep, eat, school, and workout. The worst part of quarantine is that I feel like I do the same thing everyday and then the next day I wake up to repeat it all over again. Although I miss the classroom, there are some benefits to online school. I love being able to wake up two minutes before class and getting to stay in my sweats all day. That aspect of online school I actually prefer, but I wish I could still see my friends everyday. However, having my bed and couch at easy access makes it hard to stay motivated. I try to keep up with all of my school work but it gets harder and harder each day. I can’t wait until the morning I wake up and quarantine is officially over so I can go back to living my normal life!
Gaea K: The quarantine season has been pretty tough, I feel very fortunate to have a functioning school and job that I can still go to, and I don’t want that to go unnoticed, my utter appreciation for everything I still have that so
many others have lost. It has been hard during this time to focus and remind myself of my privilege due to the stress I have been dealing with in life. I work quite frequently overnight from 10 pm to 6 am, and then manage school for myself and my younger siblings who attend OPS and are needing help with their lessons. My mom just recently lost her job at the hospital due to the effects of the virus, meaning I have to help out with my family finances more than normal. It has been a tough transition to life under quarantine, I am being more exposed than I would like given my pre existing respiratory issues, but in the end I am still able to help my family and other individuals of the community, and I am very grateful for the opportunity.
Naomi D:
Check out my personal blog!
http://www.effloresce-ing.com/2020/04/12/my-self-isolation-story/
No more routine means creating my own. Pictured here is my 8am self laying on my bedroom floor preparing for the day ahead!
Mia D: We’re one month into quarantine, but to me it feels like it has been much longer. It’s hard to keep track of time when you’re doing the same thing in the same place for a while. Adjusting to online school has been hard, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it. It can be hard to focus outside of a school environment, but I’ve been getting better on focusing when I need to. Obviously there’s a lot about school that I miss, like seeing everyone face-to-face, but I’ve been trying to find positives in this whole situation where I can. I like being able to wear comfy clothes and eat in class, and I’ve been able to work on stuff at my own pace. I also think that quarantine has made me more grateful for my friends and classmates and the time I’ve spent with them at Marian.
Maddie G: I watched re-watched Jumanji last night, and if you know anything about that movie, you’ll know what I mean when I say that I’ve never related to anyone 
more than I relate to Alan Parrish right now. I’m ready to start sprinting around my house and yelling at policemen for the date. So yeah, I’m coping well, I think. So far, I’ve dyed my hair purple, painted my walls, and learned how to cross-stitch. I’m flip-flopping between feeling like an old lady and a grouchy teenager. But other than slowly turning into Robin Williams post-entrapment-in-a-jungle-board-game, I’m trying my best to stay positive and find motivation, whether it be through dancing to loud music with my sister or by watching cheesy 90’s movies.
Lily D: The weeks of quarantine have almost mashed together into a blur of being stuck. Stuck at home leaving for only the necessities and or driving around, but
this week has felt different. For the first time I haven’t left my house to aimlessly go drive around instead I have been sitting down and trying to be productive. The opposite of the usual going through the motions of doing homework, leaving some to the last minute, I got it done. This week has been filled with accomplishment and declaration. Trying to fill my time, I have put extra effort into the few creative assignments we receive, and the feeling of finishing the task has been a gratifying feeling. The declaration of making the choices of what I want to do with my life for the future. This week has been full of choices. Choice to be productive, choice to work out, choice to be creative and I’m glad I said yes to the challenges.
Rylee G: Quarantine has been full of ups and downs over here at the Gregg household. It took a considerable amount of time to figure out how to divide personal time and school time now that they both happen in the same place, which was a big down for me. However, I was lucky enough to get out of my house for a few days over Easter and spend some time with my cousins (all while safely social distancing, of course), but coming back home and hitting the books hard this week 
has been very trying. Four days in a row of non-stop school without getting back into the groove of dividing school and personal time has left me feeling battered and in need of a good nap, and I’m quite sad because my sister’s wedding has been moved from May in Mexico to this weekend over video chat. Despite all this, it’s extremely important to have something to look forward to and keep all the days from blending together, and I’m slowly working that out.
Olivia O: One month into quarantine and I think I am doing okay. I have been adjusting to the online learning and have found that it is not that bad. My days fluctuate a lot, some days are good and I feel motivated to do all these little projects, other days I do not want to wake and need to get out of the house to get a change of 
scenery. I also really miss my friends and being able to hang out with them. I do think it helps if you stay busy. Recently I have been doing things such as re-organizing my room, finding new music to listen to, and watching new movies. My dad thinks it is a good idea for me to write down what has been going on during this pandemic because he thinks it would be neat to look back on it when I am older, so I have recently been doing that. This weekend I would like to try to make inspirational posters to hang on my walls. I think I am just going to find quotes and photos that I like to make a collage.
Jess B: Update: still bored. Have you all seen the tweets about our generation’s future kids saying they’re bored? Yeah, well that might actually be me. I don’t remember the late time I had so much free time. Before this whole COVID-19 outbreak and 
quarantine, I had jam-packed my summer schedule. Club swimming never (usually) stops, so that was going to be a big time consumer, but as of right now I’m not sure I’ll have a summer season. I also have had a caregiver job since September, but my boss is at an extreme disadvantage to the virus because her immune system is so weak with her multiple sclerosis diagnosis and age. I worry about her every day, nervous that something could happen and I won’t know. In addition to this job, I applied to Scooter’s Coffee and a local swim school as an instructor. I was really excited about all of these jobs, because building up my savings account and work experience would be really great now, especially as I know next summer will be much more nerve-racking as I prepare to leave for college. But now I just don’t really know what’s going to happen. And that more than anything makes me nervous.
Olivia T: Being one month into quarantine, I have learned the importance of gratitude. I realized that when we had the blessing to be able to go to school every day, go to the store whenever we please, hang out almost every weekend with our friends or even just go out to eat, we don’t realize the importance of all of those interactions until we are forced to not have them anymore. I never noticed before all of this started how much I liked going to school every day and seeing my friends or going to go spend more money on coffee, 
but all of that was a huge part of my life that I took for granted. I took being able to sit in junior hallway before school and do last-minute homework as something normal. Over this quarantine, however, I realized just how much I have to be grateful for. Being able to still have a version of class every day, have access to technology that allows me to keep in contact with my friends or even the ability to afford to have food for the week, is something that I now know is a lot more than some people have. These past few weeks, especially, I have reminded myself how important it is to practice gratitude in my life and to try and be positive in grim situations. Although this time hasn’t been ideal, I have taken away one positive thing, the importance of gratitude.
Sophia Simmons: One month into quarantine and I feel like I have been doing this for years now. I miss my friends so much. I did not appreciate just simply hanging out with them. I would do anything now to go out to eat with them, go shopping, or even just drive around. Although I cannot see my friends, my family makes quarantine a lot easier. We have played almost every board game to exist, taken 
many walks, and we play pickleball in the backyard when the weather cooperates. I am devastated to miss all the things I have looked forward to in April. April is my birthday month and it is always very busy and exciting. This April I would have gone to prom, celebrated my birthday with my friends, had field day, and played tennis for Marian. I am so grateful I still have my senior year to partake in those activities, but I feel so sorry for all of the Seniors. I truly would be heart broken. I have focused on eating healthy and working out to occupy my time, along with a lot of Netflix. Although this time is difficult I have to remember all the people in the medical field working extreme hours, not seeing their families, and exposing themselves to the dangerous virus. I am remaining hopeful and remembering how blessed I am.
Grace V: One month in quarantine and it still doesn’t feel real. Before the COVID-19 
outbreak my life consisted of going to school, work, home, and various places I could visit around Omaha. Though now, I usually just stay home all day and go to virtual Zoom classes. I’m not used to sitting at home all day and not going to school. I miss seeing my friends and physically going into the Marian classrooms. I miss being able to actually go out and hang out with a group of friends. I even miss wearing a uniform because now I just sit in my bed all day and wear pajamas. Though quarantine seemed fun at first, I’m always bored. I’ve been trying to fill my days with different activities like watching new tv shows, movies, playing board games, reading books, and watching tik toks. I’ve also been spending time working on sewing clothes or upcycling different items I previously bought from thrift stores.
Sophia Stevens: Quarantine in my life is actually pretty nice. Before quarantine I was so busy I could barely get 6 hours of sleep and had so much homework. My day to day life right now is boring but helps me a lot with the side of self care. I miss playing sports and seeing my friends everyday but I get to spend time with my family which
I don’t usually get to do. I get to do what i want whenever i want and having school online is not the worst. My mindset at the beginning of social distancing was horrible and I thought this would be the worst thing. Not having to get up every day at 6 a.m., getting home around 9 o’clock has given me time to think about the things I normally don’t think about at all. I miss my friends most of all, and I miss being able to go to places I love most. However, I feel that quarantine has opened my eyes to see the better in all situations and not take for granted the things and places I love most.
Molly M: I am starting to adapt! Finally! We are one month into quarantine and I am finally starting to get used to the changes. I have adapted a routine during and following school that helps me stay on track and motivated. I am starting to like online school because of how I am able to be more free. I can eat whenever I want, wear whatever I want, and be in charge of my own schedule. I am also extremely grateful that I am still able to go to my work and get out of the house for a little while. The only downside is I miss hanging out and being with my friends. Even
though we FaceTime and connect through social media a lot, I still miss seeing them and going on adventures and making fun memories with them. I am also missing Marian. I really enjoyed going to school and participating in different activities like Field Day or sports. I do feel that quarantine is important to keep everyone safe and healthy and I am very grateful for my home, my family, school, privileges, and my friends, they have all helped me stay grounded during this time of uncertainty.
Marian Network Student Newspaper 