High Schoolers’ Depiction of the Quarantine
By Katie Stannard
As quarantine keeps dragging on it’s strange to look back and think of when this started. For most Hanover High School students, we left our typical school days for March Intensive, a week devoted for us to learn outside of the classroom, to do community service, or to go on a week-long adventure that would be different. Nearly completely oblivious to the severity of COVID-19, all the trips outside of the country were cancelled, nevertheless, we set out on our March Intensives, planning to meet back at the school again to talk about what each other had learned. The weekend following we received word that our school, too, would go into the quarantine and potentially we would not return for the rest of the school year. This was abrupt, this was challenging, and this has now become a hard time for many of us high schoolers like the rest of the world.
I asked some of my fellow high schoolers what has been hard for them, what has helped them get through this time, and what they are learning from this. It’s safe to say most everyone is struggling from the same social isolation; we used to have a jam-packed day of seeing our friends in the halls, studying in the library together, getting a greeting from Mel in our cafeteria, and after school, we would spend time working with our classmates in sports, plays, or other clubs. No matter what subject or activity we were in, we always had our school around us.
Athletes have shared that their struggle is to find the motivation to keep working when they are without their team right next to them. Caroline Adams, a sophomore, shared “As someone who plays sports year-round, it has been very difficult for me to not be with a team physically, having those interactions and making those connections.” Though NHIAA, our sports league, cancelled all sports for the spring season on April 16, coaches at Hanover were still sending out workouts and communicating virtually with their teams. Whether this was a workout-a-day with some good luck and positivity to go along with it, or a weekly zoom meeting to check in with the team, the exercise and remote connections have helped HHS athletes, and that has not been lost on the students.
Catherine Bregou, a junior, said she has been able to be more grateful for everything around her including “The High School [that] has dedicated teachers that are motivated to teach us no matter what circumstances we are in.” The teachers at HHS were given one week to change all of their curriculum to remote learning, unsure of how long the year would be remote. They worked extremely hard to make the change and to reach out to students to see what we needed. Many students have said the support from the teachers and the whole community is really what has helped them get through this, especially at the beginning of the quarantine when everything was so different.
High schoolers are getting through this trying time the same way that everyone else seems to be: picking up new hobbies such as learning to play the guitar, hiking new trails, painting, singing, or just spending more time with family. So what’s the silver lining from the high schooler’s perspective of all this? We find ourselves more grateful for what we have now, with more time to work on figuring out who we are and how we want to contribute to our communities while spending more time with our families before we head out of our homes.
Kendal Responses to the Survey Summary about the Pandemic
by Katie Stannard
The biggest challenges that people are facing have been not being able to have any physical communications, specifically with family members and friends that live nearby. It is even starting to get frustrating not being able to do any of the errands such as going to the grocery store, getting a haircut, the general routine of how we used to be able to go into a store and ask for what we need or to be able to drive and drop something off at someone’s house for their birthday, or dinner. Kendal initially went into a quarantine where if someone were to leave then they would be forced to quarantine for 14 days. This has essentially forced everyone to stay at Kendal indoors and out of contact with anyone who is not living at Kendal.
While it has been difficult being quarantined there have been similar things to help people get through it. Being able to connect through the news and hear about what others are doing, going for walks with the spring flowers coming up, and just having at least one thing to look forward to in the day has been useful for some residents at Kendal. Others are getting through this with a look at what’s to come, if we are quarantined well now then we should be able to get back to regular day life soon. For most people in the Upper Valley community, having the connections and being able to understand that everyone is going through this is what has been the game changer for living in this pandemic.
So if Kendal residents are quarantined together without regularly scheduled activities, or being unable to see family and friends that live around here, what is the silver lining? We can take a step back and look at what we do have and reset the idea of us needing instead of having, is what one of the residents believes. There is more time for us to spend with our family and appreciate what matters most, and be grateful for the rest that we have and others might not. In this time we must look at what we can do for the community rather than be selfish and only do for ourselves.
Thank you to Janet Hurd, and Bob Keene for their responses!
Bob Keene’s direct response to questions:
1. What have been some of the biggest challenges for you while being in quarantine?
The greatest frustration is not being able to physically visit with my children who live nearby without having to self quarantine for two weeks afterwards.
2. What has quarantine made you realize about being a part of your community? At Kendall? In the Upper Valley?
The profound connectedness we have and the impact of our actions on others. The realization that we can NOT be selfish and MUST cooperate for the good of the community. Giving up control over ourselves.
3. What has helped you get through this time?
Music, Zoom sessions for exercise and maintaining a virtual sense of community and being free to walk outside within our Kendal community. Eventually being able to visit daily with my wife who lives in the Health Center.
4. What is something you’ve enjoyed or seen as the silver lining during this quarantine/pandemic?
A chance for pushing the RESET button on life. The opening of our eyes to the reality of how we are connected in all the aspects of our being. The possibility that as members of the human family the opportunity to correct the many factors of our expectations in life so that those less fortunate can benefit, such as access to fast and inexpensive web access, food distribution, public transportation and health care.
Janet Hurd’s D=direct response to questions:
Life at During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Biggest Challenges
As a Kendal at Hanover resident, I have been forbidden to leave the campus on pain of 14-day quarantine in my apartment upon return – thus, no grocery or pharmacy in-person shopping, no post office access, unable to maintain car battery for months, no haircuts, no off-site entertainment, no visitors, no routine dental and dermatology checkups, etc. Masks must be worn at all times outside my apartment, social distancing of 6 feet required. Meals delivered in cardboard containers to one’s apartment – always cold. Groceries must be ordered online. No gatherings with other people. No activities, such as the Kendal Library and Events Committee, big parts of my life here. No weekly exercise class at River Valley Club. No Kendal balance classes for my husband or access to a physical training room.
Most challenging for me has been the inability to shop for my necessities in person. On-line shoppers, no matter how well-meaning, are unable to shop with the economy I do. They can only go to one store – not use coupons or shops where prices are lowest. Can’t send birthday presents I have for my kids and grandkids; can’t buy the battery I need for my watch, etc.
Lack of exercise for my husband.
Also challenging has been the poor quality of the cooked food in the evening meal delivered to apartments (always cold upon arrival – re-heating overcooks it)
Also frustrating has been the inability to drive the car at highway speed to maintain its battery charge. Probably will be dead if we need it for some emergency.
Realization about Community
- The fact that independent Kendal residents could have their freedom of movement restricted – in fact, we could be locked in – was the first negative to choosing Kendal that I have found in my 5 years here.
2. An appreciation, once again, that we are responsible for each other and care about each other here at Kendal, and help each other out, a strong attribute of this Kendal community over the years.
3. An appreciation (via The Valley News) of what others in the Upper Valley are doing to help each other out in a time of health and economic distress.
What Helps to Get Through It
- Reading: Locked in here but one can be anywhere in a book. Good newspapers, like the Valley News, Wall Street Journal.
2 Knowing that we have excellent medical care on site and in the Upper Valley if needed.
3. Walking outside: Exercise raises the spirits; spring flowers change daily; meet others and chat.
4. Gardening: Spring chores to be done in my gardens, seeds and bulbs to be planted, other gardeners to chat with.
5. Occasional access to Kendal Library to check in and sanitize returned books.
6. Focusing on something to be accomplished each day (clean out a file, update family information for children, update scrapbooks, clean out kitchen junk drawer, launder winter clothes) and feel satisfaction in that progress.
7. Looking forward to something fun each day – a DVD to watch, a TV program to watch, a book to read, a phone conversation with a daughter.
Silver Lining
1. Thorough health precautions for Kendal staff and residents to avoid importing the virus into Kendal.
2. More time with my husband.
3. Back burner projects accomplished.