When corona first hit the students were expected to go back to school after the carnival holiday break. I had just gone to Sicily for the carnaval. I remember nobody wore a mask and there was little social distance. At this time traveling was still permitted and there were no confirmed cases in Sicily. While we were in Sicily the number of cases in Italy began to rise at an alarming rate. The carnival was the last celebration/party that I went to. I had felt unwell the week the schools shut down and so I couldn't say my farewells to my friends. To be honest I felt quite relieved to be able to stay at home and not go to school. A few days passed and I started to miss my friends. I began to realise that I wouldn’t have a chance to spend any more time with friends who are leaving this year. As time passed I found myself bored in many instances which I would normally find entertaining. The feeling of boredom caused many problems that year. I gave up on school and wasted most of my time on my phone. My parents would still go to work and I would stay in my house by myself until dinner time. During summer, my parents were uneasy about the disease and so I would barely go out. I would spend countless days laying in my bed not doing anything productive. This brought on many negative emotions and put me in a bad mental state. Feelings of loneliness and sadness filled my head and hoped for a time where it would all be over. When school started again I was not looking forward to socializing with people and getting out of bed every single day. As the scholastic year progressed my mental health improved and I felt better about the situation we as a society were in. Now looking back I realise that it was not healthy being confined in a space everyday and if we go back to that I will make sure to stay positive and productive.
Rebekah Cassar Dimech