My Quarantine Experience

by: REAJEN F. ANQUILLANO

Back when Corona Virus was just a grain of rice, I used to think how it feels like to be
infected by a rare yet dangerous disease. I was so scared but a little bit thrilled because it is my
first time experiencing such an affliction. When President Rodrigo Duterte first implemented a
“community quarantine”, I felt happiness, but later on, I just realized how serious our problem is
and then felt I bit scared. I do not quiet remember what my first day of being quarantined felt
like but I know it was one of the most chilliest day of my life because aside from sleeping, eating,
watching, and playing on my phone, I did nothing more than just to sit and overthink. Days
passed and I began to get used to a quarantine life. I was forced to wake up 5 o’clock in the
morning, do some physical activities like jogging and exercises, do my household chores, eat my
breakfast, then take a bath −but sometimes I do not take a bath especially when I am too lazy to
do it and so I always tell to myself that, “no one will know about it anyway.” After taking or not
taking a bath, I usually do my hobbies done like watching anime or Netflix series, reading
Wattpad stories and books, cooking experimented foods like a pancake butter mixed with Milo
or cocoa powder, sleeping, walking in front of our house for about 30 minutes or an equivalent
of 1 kilometer, but the most hardest of them all is babysitting my youngest sister.

After a long day, I take a shower, eat my dinner, watch televisions, read until midnight
or until sunrise, then sleep. The very next day, I will just going to repeat all those stuffs.
However, there is no such thing as consistency, only changes they say. Summer was over, school
days were back again. Therefore, my habituated schedule was changed into a bit more
complicating one. The education system was also changed temporarily into a “new normal”
setting of class, wherein, distance learning was applied. Modules and online classes took a part
in every student’s new normal life.
 At first, I was not able to adjust to the new situation but after a month or two, I was able
to understand the flow of the new education system. If then, I was able to do my hobbies, now
my leisure time was divided into two, attending online classes and doing modular activities. If
then I could watch, read, etcetera with no worries waiting ahead, now I always assume, that all
the worries was on my shoulder ready to enter my ears and ruin my mind. Slowly, I began
blaming myself for not being a responsible, self-motivated, and a determined person because I
know that when I have those kind of traits, I would be able to do more, to finish more, and to be
something more than who and what I am now. One time, I was checking some news from the
internet when I found out that there are many people sacrificing their life to fight for their life,
our lives, for our world, and for everyone’s future. I might not be able to feel what they felt or
feeling but through news, I was able to know their handworks that even amid the pandemic,
they are able to show how responsible they are to do their job as a profession, a people of our
country, and a fellow citizen. I was able to see their determination to make change. But far from
that, I was able to feel their motivation that burns inside of them, a motivation that once upon a
time, was inside of me too.

Then I realized how lucky am I. Whenever I see homeless wondering at night, I realized I am so
lucky. Whenever I see frontliners fighting against our main enemy, I realized I am so lucky.
Whenever I see anyone who is striving to live, I realized I am so lucky. I am so lucky to have a
home to stay all day and night, lucky to not risk my life, and lucky because I have a life to
continue and not to be chase by death. Hence, I was able to be contented of what I have now, to
be a responsible, self-motivated, and a determined person, and to be able to be aware of our
current situation. Furthermore, aside from donating clothes, I began doing my job as a citizen of
our country, Philippines, which is to follow orders such as following curfews because I believe
that, my small contribution can contribute to the thing we are fighting for. My quarantine
experience might be like or not like the other people, but the most important is I was confused,
that is why I dig deeper, I learned, and now I am fully aware.
 Because of quarantine, I was able to shape myself into something better. Because of my
experience, I do believe that, like chess, all of us has a position. Either we are a pawn or a knight,
we have to fight as one so that we can be able to defeat our opponent. For when it was just the
queen alone, all will fall but when we take a part on this game, together we will win.