How four YCC youths make it through summer
BY KRISTINA AUSTIN
Kristina Austin is a senior at Lebanon High School.
As a YCC member, I am used to working on projects to better the Eastman Community. Since COVID has hit the globe, I have had a lot of time to find new and exciting things to do around the house. I have almost completely finished working on changing the look of my bedroom, something that has taken a lot of the summer. I have also had a lot of time to spend time with my family and enjoying each other’s company.
Even though COVID has put a pause on most things, the outdoors is thriving. With this comes a lot of maintenance, which I have helped with. Mostly little things, like picking up branches and cutting the bigger ones that have fallen off trees. I wasn’t always the most interested in baking, but now it seems like I’m doing it much more often. I’ve gotten more adventurous in trying new foods, maybe that I didn’t like in the past. There have also been days when I curl up on the couch and watch a movie or two. Every night my family and I sit around the table and play several games, mostly to check in with each other or just simply to have a good laugh.
BY SARA ROBINSON
Sara Robinson is a senior at Tomball Memorial High School in Tomball, TX.
When the coronavirus came to America in March, I was a Junior about to start the hardest part of the year: the end. AP tests, finals, and standardized tests were coming up soon, and I had plenty of work that had to be done. However, as soon as the virus reached Texas (where I live most of the year), we had to immediately self-isolate. My dad and my sister are high-risk, so there was no “taking a chance” option for us. I have done a lot of things to keep me busy since then. I’ll describe a few of them.
Since the quarantine started, I have been creating like crazy. If you can find it on Pinterest, I have probably tried it. Sewing, knitting, baking, cooking, bracelet making, embroidery, calligraphy, and digital art. I think the reason I have been so excited to create and try new things is because, during the school year, I never had the chance to! Anything worth creating takes time, which is something I didn’t have very much of prior to March. So far, I have made 17 friendship bracelets, six masks for family and friends, five miscellaneous embroidery projects, and countless cookies and cupcakes. I’m starting to run out of space to store the things I’m making!
I have also been spending a lot of my free time with my awesome family. Strangely enough, right before the coronavirus came to the U.S., I had talked with my parents about how I wanted to start spending more time with them and my sister. School had been stealing most of my family time, so I didn’t feel like I ever got to just hang out with my favorite people. Boy, did I get my wish! Not only have we been quarantining together for five months, but we even took a five-day road trip from Texas to New Hampshire in an RV. Being stuck in a tiny space with three other people and a dog wasn’t always easy, but I’m so grateful we got to do it. I am incredibly lucky to have such awesome people in my life, so that I can still enjoy my time at home despite being somewhat trapped there.
All in all, quarantine hasn’t been easy, but I do think that if you are able to find something, you’re passionate about, isolation and time at home can be a little bit more fun.
BY SETH CARL
Seth Carl is a junior at Lebanon High School.
When COVID-19 shut down school and everything we’d come to take for granted, it was pretty devastating. Online school was just as bad as it sounds: Zoom classes, classwork, and homework for every class, which is a lot harder to sit down and do when you’re at home with none of your friends around. And I still needed to do my gym class.
At first, I thought gym was the least of my worries. In my head, I knew I would need to focus on all of my other, more academically rigorous classes. So I started off gym really easy. Maybe a walk or some minor exercise every day. Yet as the pandemic continued, I began to miss my sports more and more. What this meant was that I started to take my gym class to the next level, to make up for all the activity I was missing. By the end of the school year, I was doing hour-long, full-body workouts, coupled with very long bike rides and runs. One day I ran 11 miles—my longest run yet!
All this activity translated to a growing appetite for my second love, food. I took to the kitchen.
I love to cook, and I made designated family meals like pork ragu and burgers for my family. When I was in a bit of a hurry, I began using leftovers for flavorful lunches like stir-fry from leftover chicken, rice, and vegetables. After a couple of similar tasty rice bowls, I began experimenting with the spice cabinet. Some turmeric here, a little bit of red pepper there, some sesame seeds to garnish. I learned that these little additions went a long way to enhance the meal. With leftover pasta, I learned how to make roux for mac and cheese. Or sauté some veggies for a more flavorful pasta sauce. Most importantly, I had time to make beautiful breakfasts on lazy weekends because I was sheltering in place and couldn’t go anywhere. Some of my favorites were pancakes, crepes, and avocado toast.
Quarantine was a good time to focus and grow in other areas of life that we can control. For me, that was fitness and food. I hope that many others like myself found, and were able to work on, their own passions, with their time spent in quarantine.
BY SAMUEL RUSSELL
Samuel Russell is a freshman at Lebanon High School.
Over this insane time dealing with the stayat- home order, I took the chance to start canoeing and fishing with friends while maintaining social distancing. This is fairly easy to do in Eastman. I built a treehouse with my family and started animating a show for YouTube. Since spring, the weather has been good, so I’ve been hiking and biking and generally enjoying the outdoors.
I also attended Zoom church services. I’ve read The Hobbit and watched the entire Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies to keep my brain active. Building creations with LEGOs I find very satisfying.
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