When the COVID-19 was first discovered in China, nobody thought it would become this big. We all thought it would get sorted and contained. We mostly just swept it to the back of our minds. However, it slowly got bigger and spread more until someone in the U.S. had contracted it. Even then, a lot of people made fun of it and made memes. Then people started getting off. Especially students and teachers, who got 2 weeks off. Everyone was so excited to have the 2 weeks off of school. Until the 2 weeks were up and we still couldn’t go to school. Until we had to do online schooling. Until we were locked inside our houses to stop the spread of a virus. Until the virus had become a global pandemic. At this point, everything has changed.

So many students are saying that they want this to be over so they can go to school in person. Many teenagers are having trouble with online schooling, or they don’t want to be at home all day every day. This pandemic is affecting teenagers’ mental health, as well as their school work. My boyfriend, Cameron Marshall, is one of those students.

When asked how quarantine has been going for him, he said,

“Terribly. Things went from a reasonable state of sh*tty, to holy f*** what the hell happened.”

Cameron suffers from multiple mental illnesses. Such as depression and anxiety. So, this quarantine has been especially difficult for him.

“My mental state has already been pretty bad – you already know this – but quarantine has really messed me up. It’s incredibly difficult for me to do things that I was fine with doing before Covid.”

Unfortunately, his family is also having a tough time. His parents are in the process of separating and so because they have to stay inside, the house is always tense.

His sisters and two baby brothers are doing fine, “I’m glad that they’re doing fine and all, I’m just a bit jealous.”

He said he used to have a routine, and that it helped for a bit until he just wasn’t able to keep up with it. It was taxing to keep it up because of his mental health, so he just dropped it.

“Maybe I’ll take it up again,” he says thoughtfully.

To keep himself busy, he plays video games, draws, and plays with his dog (“Her name is buttercup. Make sure you put that in there.”). He doesn’t do very much so he gets bored pretty easily.

For everyone – teachers and students alike – the online school has been an experience. I can say with almost certainty that most people would prefer in-person schooling then online. Cameron is the most people category.

“Um, school… that’s a question that yields big answers. The school has already been bad for me for the past 2 years, but that’s just because it’s a high school in general. Now, however, my soul has been diminished.”

Cameron finds online schooling very difficult because even though his mental state has been pretty bad, it got worse because of quarantine, which in turn made his grades terrible. He also can’t see his friends, which I’d say is a problem for everyone, but especially him.

His sister also does online schooling. She is 14 – two years younger than him – and is just entering high school. He says that at first, she liked doing online schooling, but eventually, she started missing her friends and wanted to do in-person learning again. Fortunately, she can keep up with her classes and is doing well in them.

Even though quarantine has kicked us all in the butt, there are some things that have been good about it.

“I’m an introvert so less human interaction. Plus I’ve been working out more. I started during the beginning of quarantine and now I’m super buff (no I’m not but they don’t need to know that).”

Sadly, those are the only good things that quarantine has garnered from him. Quarantine has been worse than good, which isn’t fun. Cameron specified that he prefers in-person learning rather than online learning. “Even though I’m an introvert, I do enjoy the comfort of other people. I don’t talk to them, but it feels like school when they’re there.

So quarantine has been bad for a lot of us, especially Cameron.

Cameron wanted to end our interview by reminding us that we should check up on our friends. The only reason he’s doing ok right now is that he’s had his friends help him with anything. Whether that with schoolwork or entertainment. His girlfriend (which is me) even helped him clean his room when it got really messy. He told me that he felt so much better and cleaner after that. “Checking up on your friends is always a nice thing to do, even if you think they’re doing fine. And that’s that, isn’t it? Just because you think doesn’t mean you know. They could be having a really difficult time. So go text them, or call them and make sure they’re ok. I know I’d appreciate it.”