Keeping Spirits High During COVID-19

in Features by

Throughout life, people go through ups and downs. In America currently, and all around the globe, the world is going through a rough time all together. The coronavirus has become a pandemic that has spread throughout most of the world. It is a scary time that includes sadness, illness, death and a loss of hope. While quarantining is the best solution to stop the spread of the virus, it can get lonely and boring. This can often lead people to go into a dark place. The importance of staying positive and taking care of oneself is more important than ever, although, it is hard to do when people are stuck in their homes.

The Wesleyan community is a tight knit group of people that care for and love one another. While being apart in social distancing, the community still wants to make sure that every student, parent and faculty knows that they are loved and supported. With emails of encouragement from the school, interactive zoom calls for mentor groups and supportive teachers during distance learning, the students at Wesleyan are being provided with what they need school wise. Despite this, it is still difficult for students, faculty and parents to keep a positive mindset during the time. Distance learning has been hard for the whole Wesleyan community, and being quarantined has taken a toll on everyone. It is still incredibly important for everyone to try and stay productive and positive during this time.

Modern and Classical Language teacher, Abby Holmes, has been quarantined at home, but she is still trying to keep her mind in the right place. For Holmes, it is crucial to look for the good in the situation. Holmes said, “For me it has been really helpful to keep a healthy perspective on it. I need to be thankful that we are being thoughtful and remember that complaining is not going to help anything. I think that it is important to appreciate and value this unexpected time of rest that we have been given, despite the unfortunate circumstance of the rest.” Holmes has been passing the time by playing fun games with her husband, going on walks and runs, reading on the porch and catching up on Oscar-nominated movies. This experience has been a time of self-reflection for Holmes. She said, “There is no point in dwelling on the situation because there is nothing that can change it. As a Christian, I feel like I need to not let this alter my joy. This experience has been humbling because it has helped me realize that I cannot control things, and that I need to rely on the power of prayer.” Along with the Wesleyan teachers, Wesleyan students are trying to stay uplifted during this time.

Wesleyan sophomore, Connor Carroll, has been striving to make sure her days have structure and routine to them so that she can keep a positive headspace. When she wakes up, she cleans her room to help her get into the rhythm of a productive day. Carroll says a major part of staying positive is listening to music and calling or Facetiming people to make sure she gets at least some form of social interaction daily. Carroll acknowledges that this is hard time for everyone, including herself. Carroll said, “Quarantine can make people slip into a dark place because people could begin to eat too much, sleep too much, and since people have so much time, it is easy for peoples minds to drift off into bad thoughts.” With this being something that could happen, Carroll believes that it is important to do everything possible to stay happy. She said, “It is incredibly important to stay healthy and happy because there is no use in being miserable because there is nothing we can do to avoid or change the situation. It is better to embrace the situation, call your friends, call your grandparents and talk to your family.” Fellow students are also learning how to navigate this tricky and trying period of life.

Jackson Turner, who is a Junior at Wesleyan school, has been taking this time to keep his mind right. Exercise has been the key factor for Turner to stay as busy as possible and to keep a positive mind set during this dark time. Like most people, Turner has had a hard time understanding why this is happening. He said, “All I can do is remember to have faith over fear and that God is ultimately in control of these hard times.” He believes that if people do not put their faith and trust into God during these times, it is so easy for people’s minds to go to a place that it should not. Turner said, “It helps me to go on walks with my family, or to just simply Facetime a friend and get my mind of the situation.”

This is a hard time for the whole world, and this pandemic is something that the world has never experienced before. The access to unlimited media that gives out plentiful data and statistics can make people fearful and anxious about the situation and the fate of the world. This and many other things can make people slip into a dark place. The most important thing during this time is to strive to stay healthy and happy and to have a positive mindset.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

*

Latest from Features

A COVID-19 Summer

Three months and thousands of deaths later, the Coronavirus is still making
Go to Top