Core Chronicles Volume 2

Screenslaver Grace Martin Tired and unmotivated, I sat in the corner of my room as I repeatedly entered Zoom codes onto my screen until the hands on the clock informed me that three o’clock had arrived. Such were my COVID-19 days, similar to every other student across the country. For three months, I reluctantly opened my computer every day, only to mute my microphone and turn my camera off before reaching for my phone to scroll through TikTok. Early mornings became an increasingly challenging time for me to spark any type of motivation. As a result, I would sleep through my 8:00 a.m. calculus class and would wake up startled to my teacher yelling over the mic that class had ended. Before the pandemic, I maintained the discipline to show up on time to school daily; however, the idea of staying in bed throughout the day became far more tempting, and I often failed to wake up at a reasonable hour because of this. I could not help it. The new shows added to Netflix, addictive ten-second TikTok videos, enticing YouTube vlogs, and never-ending facetime calls with friends made sleep impossible.

A typical morning would go something like this: After difficult contemplation, I would remove the heavy blankets from over my tired body and slip my feet into my fuzzy slippers; this prevented the frigid floor from further refrigerating my already-frozen body. As I stood up, I recalled one of the delicious breakfast recipes I had watched on TikTok the night before. Totally disregarding my next class, I typed into the search bar, “Yummy breakfast ideas.” Then, I proceeded to the kitchen to create a fullcourse meal as my instructor was beginning to review for our final history exam.

One hour of screen time into my day. I finished my breakfast and switched off the TV just as my friend texted me as a reminder that we had a statistics test that day. I remember thinking, “Oh shoot! We have a test?!?” It had completely slipped my mind; I knew this test was important, but I was more focused on editing my new Instagram picture and hypnotized by the aesthetic of other VSCO feeds. Although I did not study, I felt relatively confident about the test considering I could use the internet to my advantage. I logged into Zoom, jumped into bed under the warmth of 66