As COVID-19 swept across the nation, students everywhere needed to adapt to new circumstances. Struggling to find a new normal, many students looked for a way to schedule time in their relatively empty days for online school work and other recreation to keep themselves occupied.
While some high schoolers have spent many lazy days on the couch playing video games, others have created their own structured schedules.
At Northview, students have had a variety of schedules ranging from very structured to very loose.
CORA VANDEN HEUVEL
Senior Cora Vanden Heuvel has adopted a stricter schedule. Waking up at 7:30 a.m., Vanden Heuvel begins her very productive day filled with hours of homework, family time, outdoor activities and more.
Vanden Heuvel has stuck to a relatively strict schedule compared to life before the pandemic. Although her early mornings and productive days may sound intense to some, her schedule seems to benefit her mental health in many ways.
“It’s been encouraging to see things get checked off my list and to have a normal flow to every day,” Vanden Heuvel said.
Finding normalcy in her day has helped her to cope with quarantine. Ultimately, Vanden Heuvel has been able to see the positives, rather than dwelling on the many negatives.
“I’m just seeing how this is a good thing for me because I was planning on moving out in May and so I just like having a lot more family time than I would have otherwise,” Vanden Heuvel said.
Overall, Vanden Heuvel’s schedule has been especially helpful in creating routine and maintaining a positive attitude.
JULES HIDALGO
The schedule of junior Jules Hidalgo seems to toe the line between structured and abstract. However, this seems to be a successful way to maintain his good mental health.
Although his morning doesn’t start quite as early as Vanden Heuvel’s, Hidalgo wakes up at around 10 a.m. and uses his energy to make breakfast, finish any school work he has and take care of his puppy. Adding work into his schedule, Hidalgo gets a little more structure out of his day.
Hidalgo appreciates having somewhat of a routine, but he also enjoys the ambiguity of his free time.
“I’m kind of liking the looseness of this,” Hidalgo said in reference to his days in quarantine.
In general, Hidalgo has coped with quarantine by just staying busy.
“There’s a lot of things that I’m doing that are keeping me busy, keeping my mind off of the fact that I haven’t seen any of my friends in six weeks,” Hidalgo said.
By ensuring that he has things to do and staying productive-whether that’s work, school, personal fitness or even spending time on TikTok-Hidalgo has found a way to keep his mind off life before quarantine.
LAUREN BRAINARD
In contrast, senior Lauren Brainard represents the population lacking a solid schedule. While the timeline above shows a day in the life of Brainard, in reality an average day doesn’t exist. While some activities stay the same-such as dance classes or eating breakfast with her dog, Teddy-most of the time, Brainard’s day varies in many different ways.
“[I eat lunch] anywhere between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m.. It depends on the day,” Brainard said. “I go to bed anywhere between 12:30 a.m. and 3:30 a.m..”
With such a loose schedule, she grasps for any hint of a routine in her life, yet still lacks much of a definitive plan each day.
“I like to have some little bits of order in my crazy life,” she said.
However, it is obvious to Brainard that this isn’t necessarily the healthiest way to cope with her quarantine. When random thoughts arise of places she should be if it weren’t for quarantine, Brainard often finds herself more upset because of her lack of productivity and normality.
“It is sad for me to be in bed eating tortilla chips when I’m supposed to be at a dance competition,” Brainard said.
It’s clear to Brainard in many ways that a stricter schedule would benefit her mental health as well as her education, however she finds difficulty finding motivation to fall into a regular schedule.
“I try to get myself on certain schedules, but I just don’t like it,” Brainard said. To her, she is unable to find a set schedule that she is able to stick to despite the positive effects it may bring.
Although quarantine is difficult in the first place, the lack of a schedule in Brainard’s case has exacerbated the situation entirely.
“I cry a lot. That’s it,” Brainard said.
ALEX RICHARDSON
Freshman Alex Richardson lands in a similar place on the structure spectrum as Hidalgo. With a mixture of structure and unstructured, Richardson finds himself waking up at around 10 a.m. most days. Getting most of his school work out of the way in the morning, this tends to be the most routine part of his day.
Richardson fills the rest of his day with workouts, bonfires, working in his wood shop, watching YouTube and more. Similar to Hidalgo, Richardson doesn’t always follow a tight schedule. But he still keeps himself busy for most of the day. With this productivity, Richardson feels he has been able to cope with quarantine more effectively than some of his peers.
“It’s a good thing because I have more time to do stuff and I can do it at my own pace,” Richardson said.
LAUREN MURPHY
The schedule of sophomore Lauren Murphy stays relatively consistent throughout the week. As the daughter of a teacher, Murphy has her own homeschool schedule set by her mom in order to efficiently complete her school work.
For Murphy her schedule has been imperative to adapting to quarantine.
“I need a schedule, if I don’t have a schedule then I’m very off,” Murphy said. “So, if I didn’t have an orderly fashion of things to do then I probably wouldn’t do so well, but this has been pretty normal.”
Compared to some of her friends that do not keep as tight of a schedule as Murphy, she says she feels like she is more organized and feeling a better sense of normalcy throughout these circumstances.
Ultimately, Murphy loves her schedule and would not change it at all. To her, it has benefited her in transitioning from regular life to life in quarantine.
Clearly, a sense of productivity and structure on a daily basis is important to establish a healthy lifestyle during this quarantine. Many unexpected things have happened recently and for many students their lives have been completely altered. However, finding or producing any ounce of normalcy within this constantly changing situation seems to be the most efficient way to cope.
