By Afua Anim – Student Journalist
Summer is almost here, the birds outside are chirping and you’ve probably started to become jealous of the bees frolicking together outside of your window because you cannot do the same with your friends. And on top of all this, you’re still at home as you have been for the last three months. Yes, it really has been three months already. It feels like the Coronavirus pandemic has unraveled the very fabric of society, essentially making people the protagonist of their own Groundhog Day movie.
I often find myself taking trips around my house from my bedroom to the fridge, to the bathroom, and back to my bedroom just to stay sane. However, I was fine a few weeks ago while still in class. The anticipation of assignments kept me going and reminded me what day of the week it was but it’s all over and now there’s nothing to look forward to. So, in these unprecedented times, while we adjust to the idea of what this summer could potentially look like, here are a few ideas to keep your brain active enough to build up enough healthy anticipation to keep going.
Try out these websites to learn how to create your own app or website. FreeCodeCamp provides training for coding with challenges and building projects through which you could earn certifications. W3schools provides training in language for building web pages like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, etc. Websites like EdX and Classcentral also offer a variety of courses from Ivy League schools such as Harvard, Princeton, Dartmouth, Yale and Columbia.
Moreover, while learning and working to be your best self during a pandemic is great, we all know what happened to Jack from The Shining when he was forced to work without play! Make sure to give your brain its much needed time away from everything going on, including work and learning with these:
For this one, you can either choose to put on your fanciest attire or stay in your pajamas. Visit The Met Opera from 7:30 pm EST and enjoy their “Nightly Met Opera Streams” through any Apple, Amazon or Roku devices.
If you loved dressing up for the Opera, you just might enjoy doing the same thing at the theatre (at home, of course). The National Theatre is offering “at home” streams for some of their most famous plays. Their upcoming show on June 4th features Tom Hiddleston playing Coriolanus.
MasterClass, a website that offers learning opportunities in a myriad of subjects from some of the biggest names in fields of Design, Music, Writing, Film, etc. is offering one free class per week on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. EST.
Whether you’ve baked all the bread you feel you’ll need for a lifetime, embroidered or tie-dyed every piece of fabric you could get your hands on and want new challenges or want something to look forward to day after day, try these ideas or reconsider old hobbies that you stopped a month into quarantine. It is high time you stopped being jealous of the cool cats and kittens on your lawn. Stay safe and start taking even more time for yourself because we all deserve it!