I have been obsessed with planting vegetables in our garden ever since I have been shopping at the European produce market with my mom since the beginning of quarantine.

One day, my mom and I were going to the CVS Pharmacy to pick up some necessities and hygiene products, in preparation for quarantine lockdown. At first, we thought that lockdown meant no going outside or visiting any markets. The first action my dad took was buying a freezer. We bought loads and loads of meat and vegetables, perishable foods, and instant noodle packs. We were going to all of the markets in Fountain Valley and basically hoarding everything we touched in store. On the way to CVS, we passed by ALDI. We were shocked since ALDI isn’t a very popular market that everyone visits. We thought that we would just make a quick stop by the market, but we ended up buying 17 packets of scallions, 2 dozens of eggs, 2 packs of strawberries, 2 bags of spinach, 1 pack of blueberries, tomatoes, 1 gallon of whole milk, and other goods. My mom and I were so excited as to how we bought the scallions for such a bargain! My mom found a way to preserve scallions so she rinsed and dried all of them, then chopped them up and froze them. The roots are the big part. I didn’t know that you could re-grow them..until she tried them and it actually worked. Until today we have been planting and preserving our scallions, mints, and I am absolutely obsessed!!!

I feel like quarantine has changed me as a whole. I believe that I my anxiety has lessened and I feel free. Quarantine has been quite an experience; even though I don’t get to go hang out with my friends, I am forced to reserve my time for my family instead. My confidence levels have boosted, knowing that I can do whatever I want since I won’t be seeing my friends anytime soon–maybe for a year or two. Everyone changes, and because I am distanced from my friends, I won’t be noticing any changes until I see them again. Abrupt change isn’t my preference but if I would get to see my friends more often I could adapt to their slow changes everyday. Distance learning is preferable for me because I have more time to think, whereas in class, I am forced to think quicker in a shorter amount of time. Distance learning is important for the mental health since we have more time to relax and reduce the amount of stress from school.