A New Beginning

Claire Kwon, Staff Writer

Covid was a turning point for everyone. It changed everything about our lives and changed ourselves as well. There are many people who glowed up or down during the past year. Quarantine felt suffocating for many people, but for me, it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

I know many people who aren’t satisfied with themselves and the way they act, look, think, including myself. The number of people who said that they would work out and study during quarantine but didn’t because they weren’t motivated is countless. Overall, to do anything, motivation is needed. But too many people are too lazy to do anything and just look at TikTok or watch Youtube. They are the same people who complain about how they need to lose weight or be smarter. How could they ever achieve that when they aren’t doing anything? 

I hate to say it, but I am exactly that type of person. Even before quarantine, I was too lazy to do anything, yet I still whined about everything in life. I was bored every day but did nothing to try and cure my boredom. However, I tried many things during quarantine to find what I like to do and what could keep me excited. Nothing really worked.

 I tried out crocheting, guitar playing, ukulele playing, but at the end of the day, I was just lying down on my bed using my phone. That was the problem: my phone. Every day I was either on my laptop or my phone and I did nothing else. I could not live without technology and that still affects me to this day. Once 8th grade started, the only thing I learned was that my phone was now attached to my body. 

I spent a lot of time during quarantine trying my best to change myself to become the person I wanted to become. I changed my likes, dislikes, hobbies, and most of my mindset. I don’t regret it though. Quarantine gave me a chance to improve myself and I took it. The hardest part was to try and change my mindset though. It’s hard to change your mindset when you have thought a specific way for years. From thinking pessimistically to thinking optimistically, it is not an easy thing. I never knew how much of a pessimistic person I was and still am. I don’t think positively most times, and I hate everything in general. No matter how much I’m in a good mood, I always find a way to cancel that out by thinking negatively. 

If I were able to go through quarantine again, I would not want to. Quarantine was the worst thing for me, an introvert, who was trying to open up to others and make new friends. Still, I am grateful. The Coronavirus did make everyone in the whole world quarantine for months and made us not interact with people in real life, but it gave a great amount of time for people to start thinking back and try to at least improve ourselves. I made some new friends online and I found new hobbies and interests. Everyone’s growing up by the day and we’re going to change as we grow up, but the time during Covid sure did help me realize what I need to improve about myself and gave me the motivation to improve.