With the rapid-fire spread of news about the hantavirus, many people have worried about another global pandemic like Covid. Although prolonged isolation was decidedly not good for the human psyche, it still bred lots of fun moments that people still refer back to.
Senior Audra Fiano stated that her weirdest memories of COVID were “bike rides and Natalie Ting workouts.” Bike rides were often a staple of people’s pandemic experience, with junior Ruhin Gupta also stating that “biking in circles with the kids in her neighborhood” was a nice memory.
Though, one thing that was weird to look back on was “everyone hoarding toilet paper,” says Cassandra Soucy.
Among Us was also fondly remembered by people reminiscing about their life during the Corona outbreak. “Playing Among Us with Colleen on Facetime” was Avery Gelinas’s fondest memory. Additionally, Senior Zack Berry remembered “[forgetting] he had PE, and play[ing] Among Us instead.”
In fact, many people mentioned how ridiculous it was to have PE class over Zoom. Sophomore Layla Staton-Muriel’s weirdest memory during 2020 was “recording herself doing jumping jacks for PE.” Similarly, sophomore Liliana Aguilar also found that “doing PE over Zoom [was] absurd.”
Zoom was an app commonly used during the COVID pandemic. Zoom, an app that allowed people to virtually video and communicate, was often used by schools and jobs to connect while following the never-broken-always-followed 6-feet social distancing protocol. Although the purpose of Zoom was to be productive, that wasn’t always the case, with many students detailing stories that, while hilarious, are the antithesis of productivity, and, in some cases, are just outright ridiculous.
Joselyn Jimenez, a Waterford High School senior, stated she used to have her cousin pretend to be her on Zoom while she slept, so she’d still get the credit. Samara Holley, another senior, described that she used to “beef with a teacher,” who would then put her and her friend in a breakout room. “Breakout rooms” are a feature of Zoom that allowed hosts to put members in separate meetings from the main one, wherein they could only converse amongst themselves and the host.
Rose Kelly, sophomore, remembered her cat giving birth in the back of a Zoom call. “My teacher noticed, I didn’t,” she stated. Although it was easy to sell the kittens, it was a lot more difficult for her, and probably her teacher, to forget this memory.
Social media was also a mainstay of students during COVID, with many people locked in their houses with nothing else to do other than doomscroll. Unfortunately for one senior, Gabriella Dielli, she got her phone taken away for having social media without permission. A similarly unfortunate story, sophomore Autumn Price stated that she “got bullied for posting Tiktoks on [her] mom’s account.” She recalled that she would post Tiktok videos of her dancing or playing Roblox with paper taped over her face, so, in hindsight, the bullying really did not come as a surprise.
Isolation caused many people to act in unusual and unconventional ways that, when looked back upon, cause one to cringe. Whether it was playing Among Us or lying about Zoom calls, COVID-19 brought about a specific breed of crazy that may be unreplicable. If hantavirus ends up becoming a global issue, just remember to stock up on toilet paper and ready your phones for record-breaking social media usage.
