This is the third piece in a series of first-person accounts of how students are dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, written by the Reveille’s opinion columnists.  

These days, I have been making a real effort to social distance myself from others by staying home. 

I spent the past two weeks at my parents’ home, but I decided to go back to my apartment in Baton Rouge when classes resumed. I assumed the transition to online classes would be much easier in a more familiar atmosphere. 

I live on my own, so I never really interact with people unless it’s an occasional FaceTime call from my friends. I really only talk to my dog now, sad as that sounds. Having a pet has really been helping me through this, especially since I am able to get fresh air by taking him outside for walks.

My dog has also been a great napping buddy. Because I have so much free time, I find myself taking plenty of naps. Saying goodbye to a reasonable sleeping schedule has been one of the worst parts of the quarantine for me. 

I’ve gone through four seasons of “The Great British Bake Off,” as well as 29 episodes of “Love Island Australia,” which is my new guilty pleasure. I am constantly switching between Netflix and Hulu and trying to find new things to watch. 

I have been eating anything and everything I can get my hands on in the kitchen. Unfortunately, my microwave decided that now was a good time to stop working. Even more inconveniently, my apartment complex stopped taking maintenance requests unless it is an emergency, so my microwave will stay broken indefinitely. Although it feels like an emergency, I can live without it. 

Recently, I have noticed that a lot of people on social media aren’t social distancing. It makes me mad that some people are not taking the coronavirus pandemic seriously. Even if these people aren’t afraid of getting the virus, they should be smart enough to stay home for others. 

I am not necessarily scared of catching the virus; I am more worried about those in my life with health issues that maybe couldn’t handle getting it. I am just trying to take every precaution I can to keep myself healthy and watch out for those around me. 

The hardest part of staying home is mainly the boredom. I am quickly getting tired of doing nothing all day and mindlessly watching TV. I have been trying to keep myself busy, but I’m running out of things to do. 

When I feel like I am about to lose my mind from boredom, I take a drive around town and listen to music. Just driving around with no destination in mind has been really helping me, especially since gas prices are cheap right now. 

Quarantining has really opened my eyes to how many things I took for granted. The ability to go hang out with a group of friends, to go sit and eat at a restaurant, watch a new movie at the movie theaters, work out at the gym, all of those things are gone now. 
Shelby Bordes is a 21-year-old mass communication junior from Rayne, Louisiana.