Hello class, writing to you from State College as of Friday the 20th of March. I have spent a little over a week in quarantine completely isolated. For my spring break, my friends and I traveled to Barcelona, Spain. Although the time we spent there was great, it was cut off short when President Trump announced the European travel ban. When the ban hit, my friends and I were still partying in the club. We immediately fled home to try to catch the earliest flight that we could. It all happened very quickly and looking back was probably one of the funniest times of my life. Just to give some context, me and my friends practically stumbling out of the club to get to the airport as not to get stuck in a foreign country at 4 a.m. was not how I pictured the trip ending.
Upon arriving home, nobody was checked or screened to enter the country. It was as if life were as usual and there wasn’t a world-wide pandemic going on.
Getting home was only the beginning however, as my parents are immunocompromised, they asked that I stay at my college apartment to quarantine for the recommended 14 days to reduce the chance of me spreading it to them or my loved ones. None of my roommates are up at school, and to prevent spread In case I am Asymptomatic I haven’t been in physical contact with anyone since.
It’s been a lonely, but also reflective period so far. Face-timing friends has been a necessity throughout my daily routine. I have been waking up, doing yoga, going on a run, binging Netflix, and trying to cook everything I make. There has been weird periods of laughing or crying or just plain nothing but lying in bed staring at the ceiling.
The lessons I am learning as this time continues to pass, is that nothing is permanent in life. All of these systems that people work so hard to keep in place, aren’t what always matters. I am going to keep chasing dreams of happiness, not money after college because if COVID-19 is showing people anything, it’s that the way things are need to change. Healthcare in America needs to change, the pollution we are putting into our atmosphere and earth needs to change, the values people prioritize needs to change.
It is looking likely that I will be in quarantine for my 21st birthday as well, so cheers to everyone who decided to actually read this and I hope you and your families are safe, and healthy during this hard time. <3
Attached to this I am going to add a photo of me after I ran 10 miles
and another photo of my dog that I miss at home (: 
Both photos were taken by me on my phone.