This year has felt like one big whirlwind. My life, along with everyone else’s, as we had known it, was effectively put on pause. In the five months since then, I have contributed to finishing the 2019-2020 yearbook, became a co-editor-in-chief for The Legend 2021, worked part time at a taco restaurant and spent more time with my family than I have since I started high school.
A significant part of my quarantine was spending just about every waking moment with my older sister while my parents were at work. I can always definitely say that we’ve grown closer — despite the countless and inevitable arguments that ensued — after having to spend the last five months literally within 15 feet of each other. I also spent a lot of quality time with my parents and brother — from learning new cooking recipes with my dad to binging “Super Girl” and “Criminal Minds” with my mom.
Right now there is so much happening in the world, such as rising activism, chaotic politics and what seems to be a new disaster every time I wake up to check Twitter. Through this, I have felt powerless. It’s like watching a disaster movie with endless plot twists on my phone through social media and the news, while all I can do is sit in my room eating popcorn.
I do what I can by speaking out on my personal platforms and donating, but I can’t help but feel like I’m not doing enough. I’ve been experiencing a huge lack of motivation because of my negative way of thinking, but I’ve had to learn that even small contributions are vital to actually making a change.
Isolation has taught me to appreciate the small things — as cheesy as that may sound. It’s really easy to become consumed with the negativity, something that I definitely did at the beginning and still occasionally do. However, focusing your energy on what makes you happy and doing what you can to make the best out of a situation is what really matters.
Carolina Arredondo painted during isolation. This is one of her pieces.
Carolina Arredondo is a senior and has been on staff for 3 years.She has been a design editor, creative director and is currently a co-Editor-In-Chief of the yearbook. In addition to yearbook and Aztec Gold, she is an International Baccalaureate student and the Head of Marketing in the IB Council. She is an active member in her community by volunteering at her church as well as participating as a tutor for middle school students during this difficult time of online learning. She hopes to study Graphic Design in college and pursue design as a career in the future. In the past three years that she has been on staff, she has won first place in the regional SkillsUSA Desktop Publishing competition two consecutive times and was a design editor for the NSPA Pacemaker award-winning yearbook “Off The Tracks.”
