Saddleback students pick up old hobbies during self-quarantine
Credit: Piqsels
Saddleback college students have been home-bound ever since on campus classes were moved online on Mar. 23rd. The Coronavirus has rapidly spread throughout our country, and to limit exposure, most local “non-essential” businesses and restaurants have temporarily closed, and most citizens have self-quarantined inside their homes to limit exposure with people on the outside. With our daily habits all but eliminated, we have had to come up with new ways to pass the time. I reached out to students asking what new hobbies they have taken up in their new quarantine life, and each story they told me was uplifting and reassuring that there is a bright side to all situations.
“Incredibly boring, but I feel as though every day I have come to realize something about myself that I was always too busy too before all this started,” Rachel Cannata said, a Saddleback College freshman.
In her spare time, Rachel has taken time to work on artistic hobbies such as painting and design. Despite the online shopping super store, Amazon, being sold out of essential supplies such as hand sanitizer, cleaning spray, and toilet paper, the website is still full of art supplies.
“I went a bit hard on the supplies, buying paints, markers, pencils, and too many types of paper,” Cannata said. “But I felt that if there was ever a time to do it, it was now.”
Another Saddleback student, Dylan Henderson, has taken his extra time in quarantine to work on a small-time hobby, guitar. He made a promise to himself that he would practice the instrument at least once a day, and by the end of quarantine he wants to be able to play five new songs well.
“I’ve always known the basics of guitar, just picking it up now and again when I was bored,” Henderson said. “But now that I’ve been playing it on the daily, I’m starting to get just as excited to learn as I was when I first started as a kid, and if I’m just going to be sitting all day, I might as well be making music.”
Students of all ages have had all interactions between their peers cut off, but this has not stopped them from getting creative.
Lauren Micks and Andrew Estrada, both Saddleback Sophomores, have taken up baking in their spare time. These two friends have a system in place: they agree on a recipe, make it in their respective homes, then FaceTime each other to compare the results.
“It’s actually really fun, mostly because we’ve sort of made it into a competition to see who does the best job,” Micks said.
“We’re making the best out of the situation we’re in, and not taking these opportunities for granted because so many people don’t even have the means for this small interaction during these hard times,” said Estrada.
Though many doubted their levels of creativity in the past, the quarantine measures have shown people that taking up a new hobby is a great way to enjoy themselves and make time pass by.
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