Oh no, you’re stuck in your hometown and it’s not a dream. I learned about pandemics in my Germs 101 class and one year later, we are living in a pandemic. I never thought I would have to transition to online learning or learn how to use web browser blockers to take exams virtually. But I guess that’s the world we are living in today. After Covid-19 halted my plans to go to London in May for a summer internship, I realized I was going to have to make the best of a really terrible situation.

How to stay positive in a less than normal situation:

Keep a schedule

• Going to sleep at around the same time every night keeps you healthy, and keeps your internal clock sane. Going to bed at 3am and waking up at 1pm every day isn’t going to make anyone happy, especially your parents.
• Wash your face and brush your teeth when you wake up! Doing this will help you feel like a human, and it will keep you looking good! And if you don’t remember the last time you showered, I suggest you stop reading and go take a shower immediately.

Make a To-Do List

• You have a lot of things you want to do this summer, but you don’t know where to start. Write it down and start with an easy one. Maybe you want to reorganize your room? Take a few hours of the day, put music on, and reorganize your room.

Take up a ​hobby

• If you have a lot of extra time because you’re unfortunately unemployed, make the best of the situation and take up a hobby. You used to like to paint? Dig out the old paint brushes and canvases and start. Nothing is holding you back besides you and your excuses.

Try new recipes

• Before Covid-19, you were super busy, you made the regular meals weekly. But now you scroll through Buzzfeed’s Tasty Instagram account and you want to try out a ton of new recipes. Put your mask on and go to the grocery store, get the items you need, then start cooking. Who knows, you could be the next chef of Instagram!

Stay moving

• When I was on campus, I would walk everywhere, I would walk to class, walk to my apartment, and walk to the gym. Now the only place I have to walk to is my laptop. It is important to take a walk every day, even if it is just up and down the road you live on. Your goal is to move every day for at least 20 minutes, get that Vitamin D​! UVAC’s ​YouTube channel​ provides you with many options to stay moving!

Write your goals

• After being cooped up inside, your mindset has most likely changed about what you want to do with your life. Mine certainly has. Make some goals, long term, short term, and lifelong goals.

By Layla Meyveagaci, UVAC Marketing Intern, UNH Senior studying Communications, hero of making great things from a bad situation with three jobs in a time when many have none!