by Cambree Bernkopf 

Author Joshua J. Marine once said, “Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” As of right now, almost every single person in the world is struggling because of this outbreak, whether it be because of the actual virus itself or the result of the precautions each state must take. We are all sacrificing our normal everyday lives at the moment and slowly pushing through “quarantine.” But if you really think about it, not every single part of this outbreak is bad. 

In our normal day-to-day lives, we are often deprived of free time. The great thing is there is so much free time on our hands right now for most of us. This gives us a great chance to relax and take advantage of the break. Though some adults are working from home and students are still attending school online, we can all agree that this could be a really nice break from all the craziness, but with all this free time we need to find something to do to occupy our attention. This opens up so many opportunities, it’s hard to keep track of all that you actually can do! 

Parents can benefit by spending more time with their children and possibly trying new things with the family. Adults, teenagers, and children can go back and try new hobbies and activities. This can include learning a new instrument, brushing up on some old skills, taking online classes, starting and finishing projects around the house, and so much more. We all know it can get a little boring, but creating a daily shedule filled with productive and fun things to do in your free time, along with school work, can be extremely beneficial. This will make your time during quarantine so much more enjoyable instead of monotonous. 

Lots of people have taken advantage of the free time and really enjoyed being home and having life not be so busy. “I’ve had time to slow down, do things that are actually fun, save a ton of money and spend time with my family,” Carrie Bernkopf states. Carrie is a mother of five and also a nurse at Kettering Medical Center, which says a lot since she’s one of the busiest people in a pandemic.

It honestly comes down to your attitude in the situation. You get out what you put in. Now is a good time to focus on fun but productive things to fill your time if you start to get bored. We will eventually get through this and we will look back at this as something crazy we all went through.