Student Reflection Tuesday

A Saint Stuck at Home

A reflection by Nick Dudics - Gr. 11 

A Saint Stuck at Home

This is a hard time for everyone.  

The thing I find the hardest about this global pandemic is not being able to see my friends. I have been talking to them through snapchat and when I’m playing video games but it’s just not the same. I find it especially hard when friends aren’t doing well or are having a hard day.  I can’t just drive over there and help them which makes it much harder. Many adults think talking on the phone or on facetime is the same as seeing them in person but it’s not. I want to see my friends and family from out of town.

Having a part time job at the Tilbury OnRoute on the highway, I feel like me and my coworkers are the most at risk, but also know that I am doing my small part to help.  Every time a customer comes in, I think - is this the person that could give me the virus?  I’m less worried for myself than I am about the older people who come in. Even though work is scary, I know that I’m working and helping out - especially being able to be open to help support the truck drivers. Another thing I find scary is losing friends or not being as close with friends once this is over. Through this, I have become closer with some friends, others are distanced because we don’t talk everyday like we would if school was open.

With all that in mind, I’m definitely most scared for my grandparents who live in Niagara Falls.   I would have seen them last weekend (Easter) but with all this going on we weren’t able to do our family Easter. I wasn’t able to tell them, and my aunt's family, about all the things going on in my life, which makes me sad.  I know though that once all of this is over, they will come here, or we will go there and catch up. 

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I find support in many ways, but I get a lot of support from my bosses who are always making sure we wash our hands and sanitize as much as we can. They are also keeping up with the news so my co-workers and I are always as safe as we can be. Another thing I find support in is the government. I feel like they are handling this very well and they help guide my bosses into finding the resources we need to keep us safe.

Another thing that is helping me through this time is how my parents are handling this. I'm only allowed to leave the house when I’m working.  I hated it at the beginning, but now I understand why they did that.   My parents have also been keeping me busy around the house and reminding me to walk and play with my dog.  We have also gone back to having dinner together at the table and even some game and movie nights, like we used to when we were little. I find comfort in my dog.  With her, it seems like this isn’t happening. She is just happy we are all home.

Minerva is an Aussie Mix with part German shepherd and Collie.

During all of this, I find hope in knowing that God is always there even though this is a very hard time. No matter how hard it gets, I know He is always there for me and will always be. Through all this, my family, my closest friends and my hope in God, helps me know that one day the world will go back to normal. 

I didn’t know what people would do when the churches closed.  Now that we are a month into this, I can see that God has a hand in all this because there are so many people who are stepping up and doing good things for one another and supporting each other. It felt weird not to go to mass at Easter. I miss the people at church. Some days it is frustrating, and it doesn’t seem like it will end but I know the world will get over this.  

When all this craziness is over, I want to see my friends. We have a plan for pizza, our favorite snacks and all our favourite movies. It gets me excited for this to be over. Another thing I’m excited for is to go back to school and see all my friends that I haven’t seen since all this started. Another thing I’m looking forward to when this is all over is for my work to pick back up and get busier again. With this being said, I just want to go out and get back to living my life like before.

Lastly, I find online school very weird and hard to keep up with. With all my teachers posting work at the same time, I find it very hard to time manage all work and so do my friends. I do like how some of my teachers are posting work at the start of the week so I can work at my own pace and don’t have to worry about due dates. Not having a regular routine is hard too.

I hope everyone stays home and stays safe.