Spring Break in Isolation
Julian B. ’25 enjoys the view at Portage Lakes in Akron, Ohio. Avoiding the spread of COVID-19 has caused people to completely change their daily routines. (Julian B. ’25)
I was sitting on my bed bored out of my mind and practically on house arrest enforced by my parents. It was spring break, but there were no vacations with my family, sports, or anything else enjoyable. All thanks to the coronavirus.
Before this global crisis became serious, my world was completely different. I was eagerly anticipating a perfect trip to Florida, where I was planning to have a great time with my family and most importantly participate in a world famous tennis camp at IMG Academy. All of those dreams were washed away within a number of days.
However, there’s always a good aspect to every story, such as this flashback to Monday afternoon. My phone was blowing up with all my friends telling me that we had no school for the rest of the week due to the pandemic. At that point, I didn’t think much about it. Just an early spring break. Little did I know that what would soon follow was the worst three weeks of my life.
A few days passed by with me eagerly awaiting the flight out to Florida on Saturday. My hopes dropped day by day while watching the news and the developing stories on the coronavirus. I didn’t get concerned about my family’s vacation until I heard that some of my classmates’ trips were getting cancelled. My trip inevitably got cancelled as well, meaning that I was prepared to spend Spring Break in my room binging every Netflix show available.
As imagined, nothing particularly exciting occurred. Here is a look at my schedule:
8-9 a.m.: Prepare and eat breakfast
9-10 a.m.: Khan Academy
10-11 a.m.: Read a book
11-12 a.m.: Piano and short break
12- 1 p.m.: Prepare and eat lunch
1-3 p.m.: Anything Productive
3-5 p.m.: Take a walk
5-6 p.m.: Read a book or newspaper
6-7 p.m.: Break
7-8 p.m.: Prepare and eat dinner
8-10 p.m.: Television
10:30 p.m.: Sleep
The sunset from Julian’s family porch at Portage Lakes in Akron, Ohio. (Julian B. ’25)
The daily growth of the global pandemic eventually led to my family deciding to leave New York to decrease the chances of catching the virus. After much debate, we set off to Asheville, North Carolina by car. After going through many Lysol wipes, Purell bottles, and a grueling twelve hour car ride, we arrived at our sparsely populated hotel. What had started out as a virus localized in Wuhan, China had caused our status to switch from a bad spring break to a matter of survival.
The atmosphere in Asheville differed significantly from that of New York, as it had a far less amount of confirmed cases and the regulars seemed more laid back amidst the global crisis. To take advantage of the city, we went outside for most of the day while strictly practicing social distancing.
As the virus escalated further, we could not forget what we left at home. Someone had to take care of my grandfather, who was alone in New Jersey. We decided to make him move in with our caregiver and her husband in our apartment in the city. Our status had switched from a dream spring break to a terrible one and from survival to house hunting.
We decided that we would try to rent a house in Ohio, as our extended family lives there and the state is very strict when it comes to slowing the spread. We started to look for places to stay for roughly a month. The only important thing at that point was a furnished, three bedroom place. More sad news came spilling in day by day, as I knew three people who tested positive for the pandemic on a personal level.
After much web-surfing on Airbnb and other sites, we eventually rented a house on Portage Lakes, Ohio, for three months. We were no longer homeless, just forced to live through a new start. Before we moved into the lake house, we had to stay for four nights in a near-empty Hilton. Those days passed by fairly quickly, as we only went outside once due to Governor DeWine’s issuance of a stay at home order.
The daily news impacted our family and our experience greatly while quarantined. My dad was more focused on the markets and economy, as he is an active investor, and my mom was more focused on slowing the spread, constantly giving us tips on how to decrease our chances of getting infected.
Now, even long after the end of spring break, the coronavirus still shows no signs of an end. The curve is still skyrocketing upwards, with New York, where this journey started, being the major hotspot. With all that has happened, I am definitely not bored out of my mind anymore.