The beginning of quarantine felt like I was in an apocalypse. I remember getting pulled out by the nurse on Thursday the 14th, who told me I was going to do online learning for a few weeks. Conveniently, the next day Friday the 13th, scary right? Everyone was pulled out of school for what we thought would be two weeks of freedom. Seven months later and here we are. The night of the 13th I could sense the tension and fear just through the look on peoples faces, we were all so confused. I was walking around with a few of my friends and the streets were dead silent, no cars, no people. All of the stores had shut down early and no one was going near each other. It felt like we were living in a separated society. The next few months have been even more strange. As a teenager, being stuck inside my house with only my parents for 7 months was not exactly my cup of tea. It was nice to have some family time in the beginning, but at this point I miss social interaction with people my age. Its weird to say, but now that we have adjusted to living during a pandemic, I have slightly more freedom. But, overall it is beyond bizarre to me that we are living through something that will be in history books, but all I can think about is wanting to spend time with friends.

To add onto all this craze, with the election coming up people seem even more timid. I feel as though the lack of being around people has caused an alarming decrease in our ability to communicate with each other. So many opinions are being thrown at me, I feel unable to think for myself. Being a teen with a disability, I hear plenty more than I need to about a lot of things. The thought of people deciding what I can and can’t do with my own body as a woman and a disabled person is astonishing to me. It frustrates me to know that what I chose to do with my body can be limited by a group of people just because they have the power and ability. I just wish us teenagers had more say in matters that are going to largely affect our future.