Being woken up at 6:15 on what should be an online school day is annoying to any high schooler. That’s only because sleeping in is extremely important to any high schooler. Although, being woken up at 6:15 to hear from your mother that we have to quarantine is much worse than being told you can’t sleep in.  

     Falling back asleep after hearing news such as that is more difficult than it can seem. Someone in my family had tested positive for COVID-19 and it was affecting not only me but my whole family. 

     Once I started my day, my mother told me we were getting tested. My heart dropped when my mom told me this. The last thing I wanted was a random nurse to reach through the window of my car and stick a large stick up my nose. Thankfully for my mother and I that was not the case. Instead our test was on our own. We sat in the car as the nurse outside in a hazmat suit explained to us where we needed to swab our mouths and for how long. The test itself was not painful, the experience was just odd and rather eerie.

     After our tests, my mother and I went forward with our quarantine anxiously waiting for our results to come back. On Monday morning my mother got an email saying she was negative for COVID-19. Only a couple hours later she got an email saying that I am positive for COVID-19. 

     When I was shown the email my heart dropped. Right away I cleared my things off the dining room table and practically locked myself in my room. My mother was negative and I was positive, which meant to not get my mother sick I had to self isolate myself in my room.

     What a crazy idea, to be locked in your room and only being able to leave if you wear a mask. That crazy idea became my reality. For the next 10 days I have to remain in my room and only leave with a mask on. 

     Thankfully I did not have any symptoms, so I wasn’t in any type of pain. Just waking up to look at the same four walls all day long got to be a bit repetitive and extremely boring.

     Everyday got to be the same. I wake up, do my school work, finish my homework and binge watch a show or watch an unhealthy amount of movies. After throwing in some at home workouts here and there I thought I would be less bored with my day. But I was wrong. Each day felt like it was going slower and slower the closer I got to the end of the 14 days. 

     Eventually my mother felt bad for me and saw no reason to be in my room anymore. If what scientists say is correct I was no longer contagious, but COVID is still in my system just no longer affecting me. My mother came to my rescue and told me to come out of my room. I spent the next extremely boring and long 5 days of quarantine out of my room with my mom. 

     Isolating is something no one should go through, but unfortunately it is one of the many realities of this deadly virus. It was truly an odd experience for both my mother and I. And I would not wish this experience on anyone. Take all the precautions you possibly can, they will not only keep your family and yourself safe but it will keep you out of self isolation.