This week our guest writer is Manothini Dupee, a high school senior from Hingham, Massachusetts.
Welcome to Together Apart, a community effort to establish mindfulness, connection, and presence, even when we cannot be physically together. Each week we will feature guest writers from various careers, places, and moments in life to discuss how they are Living More in the time of COVID-19.
When my phone rang on a beautiful Thursday afternoon, the last thing I expected was my friend happily telling me school was going to be closed for a week. My first thought was, “This is great, now I'll have extra time to study for my calculus quiz,” as at the time it was the only thing consuming my mind.
But little did I know the calculus quiz was the very last of my worries.
It's been over a month now with no school, and as more events are being canceled, many of my friends are sad that we won't be able to partake in any of our high school's traditions.
And although I am also sad about missing out on graduation and senior prom, I consider myself to be incredibly lucky, especially considering that millions of people have been infected with COVID-19 and thousands have died. I am safe, and I have my whole family home. Having three older brothers, two of whom are full-time students, and one working in Boston, we are lucky to get everyone together for dinner a couple of times a year. But now we are all together under the same roof, and for that I am grateful.
Staying connected with my friends is easy as we frequently Facetime and update each other on our lives. But like me, a lot of teenagers spend hours on social media. Apps like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat make it easy to waste our days away staring at the small rectangle in our hands. I realized that I don't want to live my life addicted to my phone and want to stay present and be with my family when I can.
This decision to get off my phone led to me taking up cooking and making elaborate dinners a couple of times during the week. I am using the time that I would have usually spent on my phone to start creating more. I've been working on making paintings. I now don't have the excuse of “I don't have time for that” because right now I have all the time in the world.
So, although I'm missing out on senior pranks and endless nights with my friends, I’ve picked up new hobbies, worked on my artistry, and I get to spend my days goofing around with my brothers. And even better, I will never have to make up that calculus quiz.
