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meaning to get to for months. I turn on my
Spotify playlist as background music and
“Rollercoaster” by the Jonas Brothers comes
on. I get sad all over again because three
weeks ago, before all of this started, I was
at the Jonas Brothers concert in Paris with
my roommate and best friend from college,
Megan. We had that trip planned since last
October. She and I spent the day exploring
Paris and ended the trip with the concert.

It was a perfect day, and we had no idea it
would be the last fun trip of our time abroad.

9 p.m. I decide to FaceTime Megan. She is
also in quarantine, but in her hometown in
South Carolina, after being sent back from
studying abroad in London. She and I rem-
inisce about how amazing that weekend in
Paris was and how bizarre it is that things
have changed so quickly. Megan and I talk
about meeting up once we’re both out of
quarantine but are hesitant to solidify any
plans or book any travel given how rapidly
the situation is evolving.

10 p.m. Every night Molly and I would
watch a movie because, according to the
internet, it is very important to have a
routine when in quarantine. Our most
recent movie was “World War Z” (a cin-
ematic “masterpiece”), which honestly
felt a bit more uplifting than our current
situation (thanks, Brad Pitt). Tonight
I didn’t feel like watching a movie by
myself, so I re-watched an episode of
“Baby,” an Italian drama, to keep up with
my Italian.

12 a.m. I retreat to my bed. With not much
else to do, I end the day how I started it,
scrolling through my phone. I start to
get overwhelmed by the constant
COVID-19 reporting on Facebook, so I
switch to TikTok.

2 a.m. I’m on TikTok so long that I get a noti-
fication from the app asking if I wanted to take
a water break. At this point I realize it’s 2 a.m.

and TikTok will still be there tomorrow. I turn
my phone off and call it a night.

Thankfully my quarantine is essen-
tially over. But, as I’m coming out of
quarantine, the rest of the world is
starting to implement intense social dis-
tancing. I was so excited to celebrate my
quarantine ending by sitting down at a
Starbucks like I normally do. Sadly, that
is no longer an option.

This experience has reinforced to me how
crucial it is that we all quickly implement
social distancing procedures to protect not
just ourselves, but those around us who are
more vulnerable. I may feel young, invincible
and desperate to go back to living a normal
life, but we all need to be mindful of the safety
and wellbeing of the greater community.

I’ll see you in a few weeks’ time. n
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