My Quarantine Life
Quarantine life has been a chance for me to overlook my life and the future ahead of me. The first few months, I believe most people I have had conversations with around me believed that this virus would be a two — three week thing. My mindset was thinking this would be a short break from school right before the fourth marking period. After the first month, I still do not think I went out. I was taking everything seriously as well as my friends and my family. The news of no more sports later on was a bigger impact on my life than I thought it would be. I never really understood how heavily I relied on sports and how they benefit my mood and overall well-being. Without basketball in particular, my life was extremely dry since I have no job. For the 3 months of no basketball, and no gym to workout in, I was worried I would go down a deep hole of lying in bed and doing nothing. I was spot on in my guess. I rarely went anywhere and slowed down the amount of exercise in my week. Now looking back on things, I regret not working out every day let alone not working out two-three days a week. It was more like two-three times a month.
Once basketball came back in “the bubble”, I realized that I started to have more or a positive outlook on everything. Without something to look forward to during the day, I had no drive to do anything. Now that we are out of lockdown, I have been encouraged to better myself in many ways. With the two sports I love to watch being back in action: basketball and football, I have more motivation to get schoolwork done and workout before those games I want to watch so I stay on top of my work. I will always strive to complete my schoolwork before the deadline but with nothing going on, I will wait to the very last minute to complete said task. I believe that mental health has definitely improved since the lockdown, even though I never thought of myself in that way. I never really think about my emotions and this situation I had gone through during the lockdown had made me view my life from a different point of view. I think this will help me for my future in understanding myself and what makes me function to be the happiest and most determined me.
I have been watching sports since I was around five or six. At this time, I was more of a bandwagon and did not like specific teams. As a young kid I cheered more for whoever the Eagles or Sixers were playing against instead of any of the Philadelphia teams. I am not sure why I did that, but most young kids tend to do the same thing for some reason. The first moment where I really fell in love with the Eagles was “The Miracle at the Meadowlands 2”. I have distinct memories of the exact moment and the intense reactions from my whole family. Since I enjoy football and basketball so much, I have gotten into my annual Fantasy Football to follow different players around the league and have more fun watching different games and not just the Eagles. In years where I do not partake in Fantasy Football, I rarely watch other games that the Philadelphia Eagles aren’t playing in. When I have a team full of different players on different teams, I designate Sundays to football and watch every game to stay on top of every highlight and play. This will be my first year doing Fantasy Basketball so I would imagine that I will be watching a lot more NBA games and not just the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia Sixers.
Another benefit towards myself during these Covid times is me realizing it is well overdue for me to change the way I dress. I believe the quarantine has made me look at my life in a different way, resulting in many changes to my personality and ways to attack life. I am becoming more and more independent and mature. For over 8 years straight, I only had two different options of outfits. I would either wear shorts and a t-shirt or sweatshirt and sweatpants. No variety of clothes in my life and I think it has been way too long. Over the thanksgiving break, I went shopping online and out to stores with my aunt. I am beginning to find a new taste in clothes and I think this will be a good step for me. Overall, I have been up and down, but especially with sports back in action, my drive and determination to get my tasks done early are easier for me and makes me feel more accomplished throughout the day. The Corona Virus has taken many people in the dumps but it could also help people better themselves and really understand themselves better.
