The COVID-19 crisis is affecting all of the U.S. in different ways and Camarillo is no exception.

In the past few weeks, the city of Camarillo has changed significantly. The Collection, a popular hangout and shopping spot that is constantly bustling, was empty on a Saturday afternoon — a sight I never thought I would see.

I usually go to Panda Express on Friday nights to eat dinner with my friends, but for the last two weeks, it has been empty. They have the chairs stacked in the corner and little blue squares all over the floor measured six feet apart, indicating where customers are to stand. I never expected changes of this magnitude from the virus. I have lived through the Ebola crisis, the Swine Flu, the Disneyland Measles outbreak, and even the Whooping-Cough, and I have never seen a state of emergency this severe.

This crisis is not something that I have let myself be scared of, but I am becoming more cautious and aware of the situation as it continues to grow more intense. I have stopped going to the grocery stores and started buying what I can online. I was going to the beach to get out of the house but my visits are stopped because everyone else had the bright idea to go to the beach so the shores are packed. Eventually, I even stopped going to Panda Express.

Now, the Panda Express near my house closed completely to carry out because they do not have a drive-thru or enough employees coming to work. So, as this world-wide pandemic runs through Ventura county, I am doing my part by sitting at home watching the newest season of Rick and Morty and eating quinoa chips with the grossest garlic hummus I have ever tasted, but it was the only hummus still in stock.

The digital learning that all students are trying to adjust to has been really weird. I was homeschooled during my sophomore year of high school so I do feel like I have a small advantage since I have experienced online learning before. For others, I can imagine the transition is proving itself to be difficult.

Honestly, the curriculum is still confusing for me, and it is unclear whether or not we are still going to be doing regular school work. This week has only consisted of digital safety and unrelated short videos. I am glad I do not have to wake up until 10:00 a.m. Though, only being able to communicate with my teachers through email has been hard because I do not regularly check my email and it is hard to connect with teachers and keep the conversation going. 

Getting myself up and finding the motivation to be productive is also one of the challenges I am facing. I am so accustomed to the normal schedule of waking up early and attending school, that it feels like a part of my life is missing. Personally, I have become lazy with my work because I feel like I have all the time in the world. It is only on Thursday that I even begin to start the workload intended for the week; and, even then I struggle with focusing on work in my home setting. 

To start creating some semblance of structure, I have started to move somewhere else in the house (that is not my bedroom or the living room) in order to work. We have an office so I started to work there from 9-12 before I have a food break. After the food break, I go outside to do my elective classes. Having specific times for things and giving myself breaks has helped me keep on track with school work.