Students find events to occupy them over quarantine

Photo used with permission from Jillian Pohoryles

Senior Jillian Pohoryles poses for pictures on the Rehoboth beach on a pretty summer night in August.

Although this summer was definitely different than any other summer we have experienced, students still managed to make memories. With quarantine in place this summer, it was difficult for people to go on planned vacations, see their friends, attend summer camps, or have summer jobs. Students were taken by surprise when they realized that their last day of school was March 13 and little did anyone know that that would basically be the start of summer vacation. Classes still occurred until mid June but not in the high school building as normal.

One thing that lots of students did this summer was go to the beach or the pool. After Montgomery County entered the opening phase on June 1, pools began to open with limited capacity, which was a great way to get outdoors and have a fun activity to do while still staying socially distant. Delaware and Maryland beaches allowed people to go on the beach but still stayed socially distant from other people. This allowed students to still be able to have their summer vacations just not in the exact same way as they are used to. “I am so happy that I was still able to go on my annual summer vacation at my beach house despite the whole Covid-19 madness,” senior Jillian Pohoryles said.

In addition, lots of students depend on summer jobs to be able to make money, however jobs were either moved to a virtual setting or canceled, which left many students with no way to make money. Students found alternative ways to make money through such as creating closet accounts on Instagram to sell clothing.

Students have also been going to summer camps for years now and were in awe when they had found it this year they would not be attending. “I have been going to camp for nine years and I was so upset when I found out that I would not be able to go this year. I am able to go next year though so I am looking forward to that,” junior Jenna Siman said.

Summer sports workouts and practice were also canceled, but that did not stop students from practicing their favorite sports and going outside. The Frost hill, Wootton field and other outdoor facilities were used by students. “I still was able to practice soccer this summer but I wish it could have been with my teammates,” senior Ron Berlin said.

This year had many changes and things are definitely not the same as they have always been. However, this pandemic was not all completely negative but rather brought some positive changes as well.