Six Feet Apart
Sylvie Goldner, ‘21
March 2020
It is more complicated than ever to be a teenager today and now another obstacle has arisen: quarantine. In a world where technology defines the way we interact with one another, and also all too frequently isolates us, it has now become the most vital vehicle through which connections and relationships can be maintained -- something that this normally proud Luddite is very thankful for right now.
It is 11:36am on a Thursday, a time when I’m usually in the middle of Spanish class, and at this moment I receive a text from my friend Maia. She writes: “It is wild how much I miss school.” Many of my school friends have been expressing this lately. The place we complain about for not allowing us to sleep at night and taking up our weekend days has now become the place we complain that we can’t attend. School is a hub of community and shared experiences which shape us as a cohort growing up together -- whether through parties, exams, or conversations in the hallway, these are all defining moments that are part of learning who one is and who collectively we are.
Before the virus broke out I was preparing myself for the second semester of junior year: college tours, standardized tests, mountains of homework, and little to no sleep. However, all of this began to come under assault when news broke that a terrible virus was spreading in China. I at first, like many of my classmates, assumed that it would be contained and be one of the many headlines that last for a few days and quickly fade in the endless cycle of news. However, this time the story never left our screens but began to consume them more as COVID-19 spread. From cruise ships to city lockdowns to overwhelmed hospitals and death tolls rising, COVID-19 soon became the only topic of conversation in hallways and at home. It became the only thing anyone could think about.
As the virus began to spread across the United States and the danger and fear surrounding it closed in on us, college tours were cancelled, the SAT and ACT were pushed back to June, teachers began to question whether we should come to school, and classmates’ siblings in college were returning home despondent at having their college year curtailed. I continued to come to school each day, but at school we increasingly expressed that it was becoming difficult to focus on class as the events around us became too consuming.
Finally, Mayor DeBlasio announced that the schools would be closed. However, I wish more than ever at a time like now I was back in the building surrounded by friends and teachers, yet, that would clearly not be safe and responsible.
Since school has closed, I have been more dependent on group face times, text messages, and social media more than ever. Social media, of course, is a major way in which my generation interacts, but with the recent quarantining it has become not only a platform for connecting with others but also one for coping. Instagram is now covered in humor-filled posts of seniors dressing themselves in graduation gowns at home and memes about online learning platforms and the way students are interacting with them. The outpouring of comments where others exclaim that they are having the same experience helps all of us teenagers express and understand that we are not alone in the midst of the virus. We may physically be alone but we are all at a certain level going through the same thing.
It is difficult to see a silver lining when lives and livelihoods are on the line, and there is none here that in any way can explain or make comprehensible this crisis. But at moments I feel guilty when I find myself forgetting that we are in the midst of this terrible time, when I’m lost in a game of Sudoku or laughing at a comedy with my siblings. At the same time, it is not healthy to obsess over the virus. The other night, it was a friend’s birthday and she hosted a party over Zoom. At one point, we all sang happy birthday to her through the screen and while it was hard to harmonize, the act of singing all at the same time in our separate homes together was deeply comforting -- in our song and our smiles was a promise that we all were making that this does not have to be the end of the world. Yes, this is a dark time and it must be taken seriously, but it also has room to allow new opportunities and relationships to be made. I have been able to connect with teachers, friends, and relatives in a way that I would not have without the virus. Whether six feet apart or through a computer screen, in the midst of this forced isolation I feel closer to others than ever.
Whether six feet apart or through a computer screen, in this forced isolation, I feel in many ways closer to others than ever.