Building Islands in the Pandemic Sea

Hana Diatalevi finds a new appreciation for pre-pandemic living and hope for future generations.

By Hana Katelyn Diatalevi

Dear Future Generation,
Danger has a whole new meaning now. Just going outside has its risks. I worry a lot about my family: I'm sure that I could survive if I caught Covid, but I don't know if my parents would do as well. And, the idea of having to completely isolate myself from my family if I caught it is probably the scariest part. My house isn't that big and being completely alone, unable to hug my mom or hang out with my dogs, would feel like the end of the world to me.
The quarantine happened so suddenly I don't think many people, including myself, thought it would last this long. When I first got the email saying that all of spring quarter would be online I thought Is this necessary? But the longer I stay at home the more I realize that this isn't going to end anytime soon. I remember the day I left Irvine to come home. I told my friends I would come back and hang out with them over spring quarter. I didn't really even think that it might be the last time I ever saw them in person. Now I call them and I regret not making my last moments with them more meaningful.
Animal Crossing has become my new reality. I run around my island, sometimes for hours, trying to build a world that I want to live in. At least in the game I can be near my friends as they visit my island or I visit theirs. There's something comforting in these times about being in a world where no one can get sick or hurt or die (not even the fish and bugs). I'm now trying to make the island as cool and interesting as possible so that my friends will have a good time when they come on the island. It almost feels like I am physically hanging out with them.  So to whoever is reading this and wants to join in on the fun, my island is probably nice by now and really livable.
Being stuck inside has made me reflect. As I lie in bed at night, at some ungodly hour because my sleep schedule is ruined, I get sucked into my memories. I relive the awkward moments in middle school over and over again seeing how doing something differently would have made me cooler. I remember the impact I made on freshman when I was a SPOP staffer and I wish I could just go back to the days of making new friends and meeting new people in the dorms. I even worry that the only way I'll ever get to meet new people again is online--a practice that was considered highly dangerous before the pandemic. This has become the new normal, something I never thought would have happened.
Hopefully someday we'll be able to fully recover from this and I truly hope that the future generation reading this is living a safe and healthy life where they can go out and have a good time.
With love,
Hana Diatalevi