FRANTIC FRIDAY

As the music played and students dully danced to the rhythm of the beat, a hush fell over the gym as a message crackled through the intercom: school was shutting down for two weeks due to COVID. Suddenly, the air was filled with an electric energy as high-fives were exchanged and whoops of excitement echoed off the walls. The students had never felt so exhilarated - two whole weeks of freedom from homework, tests, and early morning wake-ups. As they filed into the air conditioned locker room to change out of their uniforms, they could practically taste the freedom in the air, already planning all the adventures they would have and the memories they would make. For freshman Aiden Baumert, this meant two weeks of pickup basketball with his friends for hours a day. As the quarantine waged on, two weeks transitioned into two months, grades became finalized and classwork became optional. But for Aiden, it was all a blessing. “I was even more excited when I heard that the quarantine was extended. It meant that I didn’t have to do any schoolwork for the rest of the year and all of my grades were final which was great. Overall quarantine didn’t really affect me much, I was still able to do a lot of the things that I wanted to do.” Aiden said. Although many struggled to maintain quality shape for their sport, Aiden continued to show the minimal effect COVID had on him. Aiden recalled, “We would have virtual practice over Zoom. We would do little body weight workouts which was kind of weird. I think the workouts benefited me because it showed the coaches that I was committed to the team.” Outside of basketball, Aiden continued to live his life as normal; day trips with friends, visiting family, and overall just having a normal summer break. “I personally loved the COVID break. It was basically an extended summer break to hang out with friends. Yeah there were mask mandates but it didn’t really bother us much.” Unaffected in what many consider a time of struggle, Aiden’s positive attitude allowed him to make the most out of quarantine. Aiden recalls that, “honestly it was probably one of my best memories of highschool.” Throughout those months of quarentine, Aiden learned how to make the most out of life, for each day was an exciting new adventure ready to be explored by him.