Page 108 - COVID Consortium Journal - An Edited Collection of Student Art and Writing

Isolation in NYC

Promise Boyd, East Side Community High School

The loneliness that is occuring in the streets is unbelievable. NYC is
never this qutiet. This is the city that never sleeps. The stores are emptying out
on necessities and food. This pandemic is causing a lot of stress for me. Being
trapped in a house with nowhere to go and no things to do causes me to have
extreme boredom. I try to fill up my days with things to do, but at the end of
the day, there is only so much I can do. I wanna leave. Everyday I constantly
think, will this be the new reality? Am I going to be trapped and imprisoned in
my own home forever? Will this pandemic lead into my senior year? Would it
affect my future? Nothing is ever entertaining anymore, there’s nothing to do
but sleep and eat. I miss going outside.

Even with the world wide outbreak, I’m still stressed about school and
life. A million assignments were given within a short span of days. Online
learning has been overwhelming and hard because it’s something we have
all had to adjust to. A whole bunch of tabs open and I don’t know which one
to choose. Six tabs for six different subjects. Organizing the assignments by
subjects and by due dates drives me crazy. These assignments are constantly
overlapping each other. Online classes are back to back when it comes to my
schedule. Finding a peaceful and calm area to complete my work and partici-
pate in my zoom meetings is a challenge when it comes to my household with
three younger siblings and mom at work.

Online school makes me miss being in a classroom with my teachers and
classmates. I miss the physical interactions with my friends and being able
to see them physically. I miss joking around with my friends and teachers. I
miss raising my hand when I know the answers. I miss sneaking food into the
classroom. I miss helping the teachers with things. I miss walking into the
school building at eight forty in the morning.

Everyday, I have to stare at the plain white walls until I get tired of them.
Being trapped indoors has been affecting a lot of things and situations in my
life. Everyday I look out my window and reminisce. I miss physically feeling
the warmth of the sun on my skin. I miss the wind brushing upon my face.
I miss getting to experience the weather change. I miss playing basketball
and soccer with my friends. I miss seeing my neighbors having fun. I miss
being able to take pictures outside, looking cute for no reason. I even miss the

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