What To Do While Being Quaran-teened

Written and designed by: Jo Yeoul (19-A2)   The date on my computer tells me it has only been two days of Home-Based Learning. Although my brain acknowledges this, my physical state is telling me otherwise - I was never the one who enjoyed being outdoors, and really loved to stay within the four white walls which confine me in its rather comforting embrace. But recently, the urge to throw open my windows and climb down into the concrete jungle below me has been overpowering. Considering how we are all young students who are full of energy, some of us might need some ideas on how we can utilize our time fully and fill in the awkward amounts of time we have while staying at home. Well, in that case, you are in luck - here are a few things which you might want to consider as you think of ways to entertain yourself during this month (tested and approved by the writer herself)! #1. Complete your assignments. Now, I know this may sound boring and not at all like what I have promised above, but we should never forget that this month could actually be a good time for us to finish our homework and catch up on subjects which we might be lagging behind on. As we no longer have to travel outdoors, we have more time to pick up a set of notes and read through them, attempt a math question, or open your laptop to write a short article which is meant to boost (well, hopefully,) everyone’s morales. #2. Make pretty notes. Have you ever seen those notes on Instagram where they decorate their notes with 36 shades of highlighter hues and three different fonts on one single page? As we are all scribbling on loose pieces of paper during actual class time, this may be one of the rare occasions when you can invest a little more time and effort into writing your notes. Try including small doodles here and there to illustrate your point. Maybe use more than three colours as you draw your mindmaps - it is important to start small first. #3. Exercise.Although we may be stuck indoors, it does not mean that we should stop being active and let ourselves go completely. In fact, there are plenty of exercises which we can do while being at home. A quick search on the internet will provide you with a plethora of activities to choose from to help you reach your goals of having defined abs in just two weeks. Or you can try the #eunoiaPE30 challenge, in which you try workouts of varying difficulty levels for a month.  #4. Read a book. Now that all lessons are taking place online, I am sure most of us are sick and tired of staring at our screens all day. Our eyes definitely need some time to relax. But don’t lie on your bed just yet - take a book with you! With all the school book fairs which took place over our numerous years of being part of Singapore’s education system, all of us should have a book or two which we have wedged between files and notes and forgot about it entirely. So take this chance to excavate them from your bookshelves and flip a page or two. #5. Learn how to cook. With movies such as ‘Ratatouille’ gaining more attention from the public, I am sure the hidden desires in all of our hearts to cook a homemade gourmet meal is slowly starting to surface. As a wise man said, it is never late to learn something new. So pick up your frying pan and look around the house for some ingredients which you may have lying around! #6. Try drawing a replication of an old renaissance painting. Have you ever looked at an old painting, and wondered how people in the past managed to create such realistic pieces of art back when people could not use images found online for references? Guess what, we can do that now (Well, at least for the ‘finding images for references online’ part)! Look for your favourite image online, try tracing them onto a blank piece of paper and unleash your inner Van Gogh!#7. Fold yourself a mini origami friend. Take a small piece of paper, and fold it into half. Fold it over once more. Make a few creases. Open it up. Fold it over. Repeat this a few times, and soon you might end up with a small zoo, right there in front of your very own eyes! A single sheet of A4 sized paper can provide you with 2,4,6,8, or even more pieces to work with, so let your imagination run wild!Author’s application: Check that your slips of recycled paper are not your notes before shredding them into smaller pieces. #8. Learn a new language. Now that we are all in need of social interaction, it is not a bad idea to start practising another language so that the moment we are allowed to step out of our homes, the chances of us being able to communicate with the first person we see are higher. I recommend starting with Mandarin, then Hindi, and if you manage to master the first two, slowly moving onto Spanish (they are the top three most spoken languages in the world right after English).#9. Finally, if you really need social interaction, your friends are just one call away. Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, Hangouts, Discord, and so on - they are all applications which provide you with free service to connect with friends and family who are located far away from you. Just make sure to check that they are all available before making that call, and enjoy the few minutes of interaction which you have grown to appreciate over time and no longer take for granted. Although one month still seems so far away and every day is passing by at an excruciatingly slow pace, it still does not change how time is running out and that it waits for absolutely no one. It is understandable that a lot of us may be feeling discouraged and no longer as motivated to study anymore as we do not know what lies ahead of us anymore. However, remember that we are the only ones who are able to take care of ourselves, and that if we really need help and assistance, there is no better time than to reach out to teachers for help. So push on, and let’s look at the brighter side of things - imagine the things which will take place once this is all over! Now, if you would excuse me, I urgently need to catch up on some lectures I missed out on . . .