Due to safety precautions for the coronavirus, students said they are taking advantage of extra time indoors. They said they are enjoying reading books, creating social media accounts dedicated to fitness, learning musical instruments and spending quality time with their families.
Bridget Anderson, a junior from Utah majoring in cultural anthropology, shared the extra time indoors inspired her to draw and get creative. She said, “It’s important to be creative because it’s using our minds for creativity instead of just doing nothing. It helps us to be happier.”
Anderson shared she got creative by taking a photo of herself and drawing it. She was surprised by the outcome and how well it turned out because it’s not something she has done before.
She has set a new goal, saying, “I would like to learn how to draw. I want to have patience to do it and learn how to do it well.”
Destressing
Amelia Paul, a freshman from Minnesota majoring in exercise and sports science, said, “Before, when I would have free time, it was usually spent doing other things, especially things being around other people. I didn’t have as much time to be by myself to read books.”
She shared now she can make use of this time by increasing her knowledge about topics that she wants to learn.” I like to learn a lot about health. Now that I have more time inside, I can use that time to learn more.”
According to Paul, she has always found exercise as a way to destress. She said, “It relieves stress in my life. Every time I’m stressed, and I work out, by the time I’m done, I feel a lot better.”
She is preparing herself now to learn exercises she can do outside the gym. She said, “I’m going to start an Instagram page featuring workouts that you can do in your hallway or outside a gym. The Instagram account is called @halehealthandfitness.” She suggested people follow her page.
Be Productive
Juliette Powell, a freshman from Texas majoring in music, got accepted into the Utah State’s music therapy program for Fall 2020. She has taken advantage of this time to prepare by practicing an assigned list of music that will be learned in the program specifically on guitar.
“That’s important to me because it’s going to help me in the future. Instead of cramming in everything when I get to [USU], I can be preparing now. Similar to the Second Coming,” she shared while giggling.
Quality time with family and friends
Anderson shared she will be spending quality time with her brother. She said they both have an interest in creating music, which they have enjoyed doing together.
She said, “I’m going to use this time to write songs with my brother, because he loves to write electronic music, and I like to do the lyrics and the melodies ... I want to pursue that when we’re sitting at home.
“We can spend quality time together, doing something relatable because you can love someone so much, but if you have nothing in common, you don’t know what to do. This is helping us to spend time doing something we both love.”
Before returning home, Anderson said she has found comfort in spending time with her roommates. She said, “We’ll just lie on the couch and we’ll talk ... Quality time with people who care about you is the best.”
Powell said, “We can be goofy and use this time to really just be ourselves. We can make funny videos with family or learn how to do a random dance on YouTube or some quirky things because you can.”
Paul said, “Everyone is going to have to learn to rely on each other more than ever. Even with trying to keep social distancing, I think we still are going to rely on each other.
“I just want to be there as a friend and help anyone who is in need. Whether they get sick, just need food or just someone to talk to, even if it’s not face-to-face, I want to be there.”