The Year Is 2020….

New Year’s Eve, 2019. What a night. Wandering around SoHo in Manhattan, surrounded by my friends, laughing, drunk, hopeful for the coming year. We joked about our resolutions and plans for 2020. The only thing we know for sure is we are graduating in May so we have to be in Newark on May 20th at 10:00 a.m. We plan to travel to Chicago the weekend before and fly back just on time to walk across the stage at The Prudential Center. Cutting it close gives us an adrenaline rush like no other; we crave it.

Time flies when I’m having fun, and it feels as if I blink and it's already mid-January. I start a new job at The Short Hills Mall. Only a 20-minute drive from my house. Exactly what I was looking for. It’s part-time because I’m applying for internships to further build out my resume. Dozens of applications, interview after interview, and I finally get the offer for the marketing internship I’ve been waiting for. Everything is great. My schedule is full, I’m making money, I’m managing my schoolwork and I still have time to squeeze in a social life. Who could ask for a better January!

Second week of February couldn’t have come any faster. I’m working at 7 World Trade Center in New York City as a Growth Marketing Intern for a real estate financial technology firm called TheGuarantors. It’s awesome. My friends take the train into the city once a week. We grab drinks in the Financial District because why the hell not? It’s cold and windy almost every day, but sometimes the sun shines through the gloom and I’m reminded of all my blessings. Thoughts about working full time in the city when school is over in three months fill me with excitement and I want to count down the days until I can make this a reality.

By the time I acclimate to my new schedule, I’m flipping from February to March on the calendar that hangs above my nightstand. I begin hearing light chatter about the coronavirus. Nothing alarming, just noise from co-workers, the news, and my family. I take precautionary measures to stay safe and keep everyone calm. I wear gloves on the train, and when I get to work, I rush to the bathroom to scrub my hands. This only lasts a week.

Management is extremely responsive and sends out an email advising everyone to start working remotely. We are on spring break for school and I have no plans other than to work. This is awesome. I’m working from home for my internship! This is almost unheard of, so I feel extremely grateful and appreciated as an employee. Unfortunately, this bliss doesn’t last long.

Before spring break ends, I receive an email explaining that all Rutgers campuses will be shut down for the rest of the school year to help reduce the spread of the virus that has suddenly taken over the Tri-state area. Okay, whatever. I don’t have to go back to campus for school. Within hours, May graduates receive the email informing us that graduation is canceled. A week after, I was furloughed from the mall. Three weeks after that, I was laid off from my internship. Unreal. A complete 180 in a month. All the hours I spent just trying to obtain these opportunities for them to be stripped away from me in a matter of days, was heart-wrenching. Without work, no internship, not going to campus for school, and no graduation, left me without a stable routine, and an uncertain future.

I feel as if I have lost control of everything. I’m reaching out, trying to grab on to something, anything, that will give me a sense of stability or normalcy. Even the one thing I believed to be certain, graduation, has been taken from me.

I laugh with my friends at the memes about sitting in front of the television watching re-runs on Netflix all day and being glued to our phone screens, endlessly scrolling. Living vicariously through someone’s posts while inhaling a bag of Doritos, resulting in us coming out of quarantine 30 pounds heavier. We laugh because it’s our coping mechanism to sugarcoat the realization that this is our reality if we allow it to be.

It’s now been a month and a half since I’ve been quarantined. Six. Whole. Weeks. As an extrovert, I could have never imagined that I could survive without social contact, but here I am. Still breathing, and surprisingly thriving. Luckily, I haven’t fallen into the dark, Hell hole of boredom yet, and am not anticipating it anytime soon. If this quiet, isolated, time has taught me anything, it’s that nothing is for certain, and we must make the most of every day. I don’t have control over a lot of the things that have happened, but I have control over my emotions.

I’ve been on a mind, body, soul kick, making a real effort every day to improve something about myself. Every morning, I put together a list of things I want to accomplish by the end of the day. Some are more time-sensitive, like making dinner for my grandpa and I, and other activities I leisurely tackle throughout the day, like Pilates or applying for jobs. This time in the house has allowed me to recognize that every day is an opportunity to accomplish something. I’m a believer that a little progress each day leads to big results.

To keep my mind active, I have designed a website that is essentially my visual resume and portfolio. It’s been a great way for me to stay creative and learn about website development, a skill that I wouldn’t have otherwise developed, at least not with my previous goals in place. Challenging myself to improve my body’s health has been a struggle in past years. The truth is, I can’t stay away from the bread and fast food. I love that chicken from Popeyes. But I made the decision to get my health in order at the beginning of April. I have been consciously acknowledging what I put into my body, implemented intermittent fasting in my day, and strengthening the muscles I have never used through yoga and Pilates. I now know how to do a proper crunch, and I must say, I’m excited for my abs to come in. Through fostering my relationships with family and friends, and setting reasonable goals for myself, I am working on my soul. I value this time I have with my grandpa and am glad I can be the best grandchild a grandfather could ask for!

I wouldn’t say this quarantine is the best thing that has happened to me, but it’s definitely not the worst. I have my health, my family, my friends, and my perseverance. We are in control of our destinies, and it’s our choice to be optimistic about life. It’s about making the most of what you have, even when we’re stuck in the house for an unprecedented amount of time. So, I leave you with the question, when this quarantine’s over, what will you have accomplished? Because remember, this too shall pass.