Good morning, good afternoon, good evening or good night, wherever you are! I hope you are all safe and adjusted to our new normal. It escalated quickly, I mean who saw that coming? I’ve heard variations of how people are either bored, too busy, not busy, enjoying it, or hating it. To be honest, I’ve actually been enjoying my time at home. The beginning was a bit rough, though I knew that even if COVID wouldn’t happen I’d still do the same thing for Spring Break, sad I know. I think that this is a new version of me finding myself and taking care of myself, which I’m loving. All the patience, all the independence, it’s a bit relaxing, so I guess thank you for this slight break?  

The last two quarters I was busy, doing a bunch of outside work and extracurricular activities. Life was a bit rocky and difficult, but I grew from that and learned. I like to think that that’s the reason why this quarter feels less stressful and not as busy, even though I’m taking a full load and still able to work on other art projects. I also like to think that quarantine has helped me grow as an individual and I see a lot of new positives about it, but not ignoring that others have it rough and maybe having a really difficult time.  

I feel really privileged right now, because I am, which I am thankful for! One of the best things that have happened was finding flour and toilet paper. I swear, some people are either hiding large stashes somewhere, because it took a while searching for some. I drove 50 mins for it and the trip took around three hours. Crazy, but I enjoyed that adventure.  

So that’s a long intro, but Hi! My name’s Miryam and I’m a BFA film major. Here’s a quick look into my life right now, it hasn’t changed too much. I start the day, the night before, as in I’m a night owl. Usually going to sleep at 1 a.m. is really early for me, so you might catch me up on social media till 4 a.m. or maybe 5 a.m. if you’re lucky. I don’t stay up for fun, usually, I’m doing my homework. I’m not too crammed though because I take my time. It’s a bit easier for me to stay up whenever my sisters are up to doing homework as well, so it’s not too bad. I wouldn’t recommend staying up this late because sometimes I get these weird tingling headaches and back pains from it all, so that’s a plus.  

Eventually, I’ll either watch YouTube or bits of movies to ease my brain from work. After that, I’ll head to bed. At around 7 a.m. I should be (but I’m not) running to train for cross country but let’s just say that’s the next thing I’ll be aiming to improve. Then (don’t tell my professors this but I just put my alarm at the time my class starts), which depending on the day, it’s either 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. which isn’t bad, since I’m in the pacific time zone. I hop out of bed and head to my “classroom” a.k.a my living room. After my first class, I have a break and that’s the time that I properly wake up to shower and get ready. Then I might snack a bit.  

Depending on the day I’ll either have a full day of classes till 9:30 p.m. (I know right, it’s a late class) or my day will consist of zero classes. During my class breaks, I’ll either work on projects or homework that may have been due a couple of days ago…oops.   

Then eventually at around 7 or 9 p.m., depending on the day, I’ll take a fat nap for a couple of hours, just so that I can be prepared to stay up till 4 am. I love me some naps. Sadly, time has been inconvenient because I usually miss texts or calls during my nap time, which is fine.  

For me, this quarter went by quickly. I expected that it would go too slow, so yay! I’ve enjoyed most of what’s going on, there have been lower moments in life, so I’m very grateful for where I am now! Never in a million years would I have thought that this would be the way this entire year had been. So much has changed and I’ve learned from it all. I guess my one take into this year would be, that you can’t control what happens around you, but you can control how you react. You can choose to turn the negatives into positives, you can choose to accept mistakes and learn, you can choose to grow. I’ve learned to push myself and I’ve learned that I need to say no sometimes.

I think the best thing out of this entire school year is that I feel like I’ve found out way more about myself and I’ve been able to use it in a way that I can help others around me. I look forward to finishing this school year strong and having a relaxing summer. I’m excited to see everyone in the fall! I wish all of you guys safety and for seniors, I hope you guys know that I, your professors, friends, and family are proud of you! For those affected, if there is anything I can do, I would love to help in any way that I can!