Beyond

Day 1: May 8, 2020

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May 8, 2020

I feel as though waves of the ocean were crashing down harshly in my mind. The day went by as quick as lightning. Plans form in my mind like lists irritating my brain from school work and tests. But this was the new normal, we all had to accept it since there was no other choice. Safety is now our virtue, one of the most important.

Let's start in the beginning. I was fast asleep dreaming of god knows what, and I heard my phone go off with the sound of sharp crystals as if it was cutting glass.

I thought to myself, "He's calling me. I'm going to ask him to let me sleep until 8." My mind was slowly drifting back to sleep as I grabbed my phone with my cold, trembling hands. It was 7:25 in the morning.

With a tired groan, I answered the call to hear the sound of his voice. His voice always woke me up because it's always very loud but cheerful. And of course, I heard the clicking of his mouse.

"He's playing Minecraft or some video game," I thought tiredly, "I mean, what else is new?"

Before you ask, who's he? He's my best friend and favorite person in the whole world. He understands me for being me, and we both support each other for whatever we do.

So we had a deal that since he always wakes up bright and early, which is normally 6:30, he would wake me up at around 7:30 everyday.

I guess you're thinking by now, "Wow, she's not a morning person..." Well, then you're right. I'm definitely not. I'm more of what you would describe as a night owl. I can literally sleep for an entire day. Is that just me?

I went back to sleep for what felt like only a couple, beautiful seconds and then, those sharp crystals rang into my ears. I mean, god I need to change my ringtone.

I press the button and groan, a very tired and ugly groan, through the phone as I clear my throat.

He says his daily hello with a positive tone, and I say what I normally say, which is, "ughhh, do I have to?"

This refers to getting up, out of my cozy bed that's filled with fluffy blankets and pillows, my heaven.

Let's just say I eventually woke up. I mean with quarantine, I have been sleeping even more than normal. And my normal is about 10 hours of sleep, but don't worry, I'm not a lazy person. I am actually very productive during the day. I know, hard to believe, but all my homework is finished.

I did what I normally do: yawn, get up, brush my teeth, put on clothes and makeup, and then go downstairs. I'm normally the last one up in my family, besides my dad, who sleeps even more than me.

I'm still on the call with him. But he's doing something, I don't even want to ask what he's doing. It's kinda predictable: video games. 

My phone suddenly buzzes with a notification, and of course, me being me, I pick up my phone quickly. But my heart just stops.

We quickly say our goodbyes and hang up the call. 

I think to myself with a panic, "Oh god, it's already 8:35," and my parents see me rush down the stairs, logging into the morning meeting from Zoom using my super slow computer. However, I am excited today because we have an advisory in the morning.

I promise you that I have the best advisor at Tower Hill. He's also my math teacher, which is great! We talked about our Tower Term Time Capsule Project, which is a graduation requirement, replacing the original Tower Terms. Tower Terms is a week of activities that we would do if he were on campus at the end of the year.

After reading my bio, you're probably thinking, "Duh, this is your project: Beyond." And I would shake my head and smile politely because you're not wrong. 

We experience shortened classes during the day: only 50 minutes. It's new, but we are all used to computers so much that the sunlight from going outside feels like it is burning our eyes out. I have three classes today and a free period, which is pretty chill.

But here's my advice for panicking because I know this happens a lot in high school but do not fear: Whenever you're panicking for a test or something other than school, go outside or watch some netflix to cool down. Get a big bucket of ice cream and some whipped cream because guess what? You desire it. Then, go back to homework and studying. I know it might be challenging, but everyone is doing it, so I believe that you can do it too!

As I was going to all my classes for the day, I realize how much we are thankful for teachers being here in these difficult times still supporting us and brightening our futures. So thank you to all the teachers at Tower Hill!

Now, you might be thinking, am I awake now? The truth is sort of. I mean, after multiple facetime calls with him, I slowly become more awake as time progresses. I can hardly remember what happened this morning because of tiredness, but I'm telling as much as I can remember. 

I am a very positive person during the day and love to laugh and simile, enjoying all of my classes because they are pretty fun and interesting. After two straight classes, we had freshman seminar. This is where seniors gave their experiences of their life at Tower Hill. It was very interesting with the aspect of what they expect for college.

College is definitely not far away, but we have enough time to get prepared. It might cause stress and panic to most people. However, I learned that it's a matter of "trusting the process," and believe me, I will.

To be honest, I started writing during quarantine because my English teacher at Tower Hill helped me grow my confidence in my writing skills. It began to develop as a hobby, but really, it has always been my passion. I just needed some motivation to find the key to open the door to simply write and believe in myself. So, thank you for motivating me and helping me develop my passion as a whole! I really appreciate it!

Lunch went by like a warm-hearted breeze as I watched a couple netflix shows, mainly the first seasons of Glee. And I had one more class after the weekend; math, which is one of my favorite subjects at Tower Hill.

Even with plenty of work that will keep me occupied during the weekend, I am filled with joy to have a couple days to myself.

I have always loved playing tennis, which is one of my passions. I normally go to courts with my friends and just start playing on the weekends or some weekdays. However, I have been restricted from playing it since no one is allowed to go outside. I miss it with all my heart, but slowly, I learned how to cope without it for some time. It helped me seek other hobbies in the meantime and motivated me to become stronger.

I altered my hobby to ping pong, boxing, and the normal workouts. I mean, what choice do I have? But the new normal is slowly turning into everyday life under these circumstances. And you know what, it's going great! 

~We have each other. Hand in hand. Walking through and to the end of these tragic times. And no one is left alone.~

- A Theme of Hope to All 

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Stay Safe and keep smiling :) - Hannah 

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