CoronaVirus Part 2: Current Times And What To Do

By Daniel Amador

As of Friday the 20th of March, the Mayor of Chicago and Governor of Illinois announced that the State of Illinois will be on shelter-in-place at 5:00 on Saturday the 21 of March, though they were already urging people to stay at home anyway.

What this order means is that you can not go to work unless your job is that of an essential supplier. For example, a cashier at a supermarket, security guard at a supermarket, a police officer, and, of course, a medical professional . You are also not allowed to use public transportation unless you have a letter from the government allowing you to, and you cannot go to a public playground. You wouldn’t be able to anyway, they are all closed. But you CAN take a walk outside if you do not touch anything, and you are allowed to go to the store when you need to (and to those dog-lovers, you are allowed to walk your dog; they cannot carry the virus).
But enough about rules and restrictions, here are five good ideas of what to do, and other things that may help you in this time:

You’re not alone. Remember, this is worldwide! More than 100 countries have at least 1 confirmed case, and millions of people are quarantined too. Also, every state in the US now has at least 1 confirmed case.
Just do what you do. As homeschoolers, we (generally speaking) normally stay at home most of the time anyway, so just do what you normally do! Read a book, do some homework (remember, we were still given homework in some classes), watch a movie, play LEGOs… I am sure you can think of something.
Make a movie or write a book. Throughout my life, I have always been making movies (or videos) or writing comics and stories. Use a device to record, grab some prompts, and invite siblings to help, and get creative. And for writing a story or comic, it is not that hard to get started; all you need is an idea in your head and a way to write it out.
Go to your basement or work area and create! As some of you may know, I have been involved in creating several cardboard arcade businesses, and not just in ODE, so I would recommend trying to build a cardboard arcade game or two. I would suggest using hot glue above any other connecting material. You could also try to build something out of wood and nails, carve something, or maybe just any other kind cool contraption!

I hope these things will help you through this shelter-in, and here is a poem I wrote about this epidemic; it may not be the best, but I hope you enjoy it: