Quarantine, the word most dread to hear. At first it was just like a mini vacation, a break from all the many assignments being handed out-  snow days without snow.

     But now staying home sitting on a computer screen from 8:05-3:05 just seems different, it is a feeling of unwanted commitment in a way. You wake up, log on, do the assignments and log off, the teachers and students try to make it as easy and comforting as possible but it’s just not the same. You can’t feel the laughter in a room when it’s there or talk thoroughly through something you don’t understand. The screen finds a way to suck you in, to keep your eyes focused on it even when there isn’t a meeting or a call , you just continue to try and comprehend what is happening in class because you’re there but really you aren’t.

     This can last from 1-2 days to over 1-2 weeks, not to mention it can happen more than once, something people can’t control. It seems as though the masks, the sanitizing, the distance, it can’t prepare you for the switch from on school grounds to on a chromebook. Cannot prepare you for the fact the motivation you have to complete assignments is different, the way you complete things is different, the communication, it’s all different.

     As a high school student, I want to experience talking with friends down the hall, sitting with them at lunch even if we are apart, building communication with teachers, and experiencing that online isn’t the best alternative in my eyes. So quarantine is a questionable deal, not only for me but other students feel this way as well.