As students, athletes, family members and friends, we are constantly being asked to make selfless decisions. We have the responsibility to determine what we think is right and what we should do. With COVID-19 playing a huge role in those decisions, we have to be responsible for everyone we come into contact with. 

That very critical addition of having someone’s life in our hands should be a no-brainer to protect them.

Most quarantines consist of 14 days with no contact with anyone outside of your household. Sounds like a burden, right? Having to do fully online classes, not getting to see your friends, not leaving the house and not being able to participate in school activities. You are stuck in your house just because there might be a chance you can spread the virus. Might being the key word. You are doing all of these things  and having to struggle through not getting the full school experience and having to rely on technology to keep your “human” interaction going. 

It all sounds horrible and kind of silly to take these precautions just because there’s a small possibility.

It all sounds silly, until you finally realize and understand that you are doing this so someone else can see their grandma for the first time in months. You are doing this so someone who is high-risk can finally come to school and learn in a somewhat normal way. You are doing this so someone who has a parent working on the frontline of this virus can finally hug them the second they walk through the door. You are doing this so we don’t have to wear those pesky masks and so we can finally have a full school with all of our friends in one place.

Each positive action we take against this seemingly never-ending virus is a step forward to getting back what we lost. Every time we do what is expected of us, it brings us closer to our ultimate goal: normality. If we are responsible and selfless, we can finally have the summer we all wanted, athletes can be able to have spring sports, the seniors can finally go to prom and we can all have the ability to travel and visit those family members we don’t get to see very often. 

We need to learn how to put our pride and stubbornness away for a short 14 day period. 

I definitely understand that it is not easy and very frustrating at times, but it will be so worth it in the long run.

I want to be able to hug my grandma without having to wash my hands before, wearing a mask and turning my head in the opposite direction. I want to go visit my other grandma in Minnesota who has barely been able to see the residents in her apartment building, let alone her own family who lives less than 20 minutes away from her. I want to be able to safely travel and to experience my cousin’s ordination. I want to be able to see and hold the two new tiniest members of my extended family. I want to be able to take the two little boys I nanny in the summer to AirFX to get all of their nine-year-old and seven-year-old energy out. 

All of my wants, though, depend on how you choose to react, whether that’s responsibly or irresponsibly. And all your wants depend on what I do, and I will gladly spend another 14 days, that seem to blur together at home, if it means that you get to do whatever is important to you. 

Quarantine is more than just staying home and doing online school, you are actively slowing the spread of this terrible virus. Deciding to quarantine is a sacrifice in itself, but it’s a sacrifice worth making.