Work it! Working from home while quarantine goes on, online learner, Ciara Shutic, sophomore, shows her workplace at home and the supplies needed for her online learning classes during early January of 2021. Her supply essentials include: a calculator, a notebook, and her school computer. “I have things I need for my Algebra class, some water so I don't have to leave as much during class, and I’m at a table so I can focus more” Says Shutic, talking about why she chose this location for her online learning, and how it helps her specifically. “I like online learning because I can stay home, and don’t need to wake up as early for school!” Shutic also stated when talking about Online Learning that is taking place at Homestead as of this year. Photo Credit: Ciara Shutic.
Many students (over the course of quarantine and through their spare time overall) have had more than enough free time and picked up hobbies, crafts, and things to do in the meantime while waiting for school to go back and take place again normally. Let's take a look at what some of these students tried, and why they chose this to keep them occupied during the quran-time.
Students have come up with several hobbies and schedules to keep them busy during quarantine such as, video editing, DIYs, sports, and more. Many students have also come up with fun and interesting sports to take on, such as lacrosse, and other students spend their time writing, singing, or painting. Quarantine has been hard for many students, and in that respect, has also given lots of students an opportunity to be themselves, and do what they love in the meantime of waiting for things to go back to normal with schools.
After the long hours of quarantine, and quarantine break, Hana Nasir, sophomore, shares her love of painting, and how she started painting in the beginning of it all, "I started to have a lot more time to paint, and I do it as often as I can. I've always been painting but because I had to go to school, I wasn't able to it as often. But, now because we're home, I have a lot more time to be able to paint." Later adds on, "I usually paint with acrylic paints, sometimes on a canvas, and sometimes on paper that can handle the paint. But, sometimes I paint with watercolors too." Through using this time to work on something she loves and appreciates, her skills have improved greatly and although she loves the time used for her love of painting, she hopes that school will be back in order sooner rather than later. But still loves the time it has given her in order to perfect her painting skills, and work on what she loves!
While in quarantine with nothing to do, Soleil Bottesi, sophomore, talks about how her rabbits have inspired her to take up photography over the quarantine season, and how she really got into it overall: "Photography. My bunnies really inspired me to take more photos, to be honest, especially [photos] of them!" Asking about her favorite types of photos to take, she replies "Because they're so photogenic, that they look good in every shot. And nature is just so still and peaceful." Bottesi said, talking about the nature of the outdoors and animals.
While some students tend to prefer passing the time through artistic skill, and photography, other students tend to prefer sports and physical activity to help keep themselves in shape and still have time to perfect their hobbies.
When asked about her favorite quarantine hobby, Maura Whitaker, sophomore, replies "I was able to work on lacrosse, which I was planning to play last year, but since school got cancelled, I got the opportunity to work on it at home. My brothers had played lacrosse before, and it had always looked like fun and I really enjoyed the few practices I had while we were still in school. Which made me want to continue working on it for the upcoming season at Homestead." Sports help keep students in shape, while still passing the time.
Many students find this time amazing to work on a new skill and improve on it, such as Hana Nasir, and Soleil Bottesi, who both took an artsy look at things over the quarantine time. other students love the opportunity to try a new sport such as Maura Whitaker and hope that in the coming years they'll be able to return to normal and attend practices, and lessons in real life once more.
Grace Kay, sophomore, also says how she took up challenges such as a chopped challenge her and her brother completed over the course of quarantine, (Chopped is a cooking show where the contestants have to make a dish that includes certain bizarre ingredients). Kay talks about the challenge, and what she made to compete in it, "I made a waffle-yogurt layered cake with a dried cranberry smoothie and my brother did a soup with all of that in it." Kay said, reminiscing about the challenge she and her brother took on.
From food to video games, many other Homestead students took up gaming, including Bella Feltz, sophomore, "I started working out and playing more video games, having a lot of free time allowed me to explore playing new games, and since we had to stay quarantined, I wanted to make sure I was staying active which led to me doing daily workouts." Said Feltz, talking about the hobbies she took up during this time, and why she chose these overall, When asked about what kinds of games she took up playing, she replied; "Call of duty. rainbow six [siege], walking dead, animal crossing, fallout and resident evil." Feltz said, still talking about the types of games she tried during quarantine.
As shown from above, Homesteads students have been using this freetime and quarantine time to work on their hobbies, and find new fun things to try out or complete. This is what everyone did to help pass the quarantine time!