On March 13th, I was completely thrown off by the new social distancing and quarantine skills that were set in place. I had so much planned for the next few weeks and was so disappointed to hear that all these things were cancelled all at once. My first thought was, “It’s only two weeks, everything will go back to normal in just fourteen days, no need to worry.” But as the shelter in place laws began to pile on top of one another I felt as if we’d never get out of this. As months past, it felt as if society had been permanently altered. Suddenly it became normal to learn through screens, to cover our faces with a piece of cloth every time we stepped outside, to get our foods and goods delivered to our door step, and to stand the distance of a horse from another being in public.

Although I didn’t completely enjoy the entire concept of distance learning, it did give me opportunities to set a sleep schedule, to get at least nine hours of sleep each day, and to get work done on my own time and terms.

Despite these new feelings of loneliness and change, I began to realize that I shouldn’t let this disease stop me from living my LIFE. A few days after AP Testing I visited a local bike shop with my parents and we purchased some bikes! Ever since that day we’ve left our house at least once a day to ride around and to get some fresh air. Over the weekends we love biking down the Santa Ana River all the way down to PCH. Being able to do so felt so relieving as it felt draining to be stuck in between four walls for months on end. This era of distance allows us, as humans, to truly appreciate our Earth.