Westerville South students appear to have made the most of their quarantine by finding new things to fill their boredom.  

Earlier this year the world was hit with the unthinkable, a global pandemic that forced everyone into a nationwide quarantine. Students expected a long two to three week spring break, but little did they know that this extended spring break would be over 6 months long.

 From March to May it seemed that everyone was trapped at their houses bored and alone, but many people found new and interesting things to occupy them during this time.  

Sophomore, Gwen Stacey said, “At the beginning of quarantine I was so bored, but I started to be interested in things that I would normally never do.” 

Many students at Westerville South downloaded, or previously had, the popular app, TikTok. The app allows people from all over the world to share content in a short video, hoping to achieve fame, or to provide people with entertainment, as well as provide relatable content that users of the app seem to be drawn to. 

The For You Page on TikTok is filled with content that is unique to each user, mainly containing videos that include dancing, comedy, politics, etc. 

Senior, Abbey Williams, said that she has learned many dances and has even called herself a “dance master”.  She also claims that during quarantine she entered “deep TikTok” and her For You Page was filled with demented Elmos and cans of beans. Many would find these types of videos disturbing or even weird, but some would find these TikTok videos humorous and entertaining.  

Other students can agree that TikTok was very entertaining during this time; but no one could be entertained with it forever, so people began to watch many different shows and movies and videos. 

Netflix released popular new shows during this time that would be discussed for weeks. The documentary series “Tiger King” had been released in March and followed the crazy lives of people who owned and showed off their big cats. “The Outer Banks” was released in April and many people were hooked on this drama filled, adventure series.    

Freshman, Emily Hoelscher, had watched many different shows and movies throughout the quarantine on a variety of streaming sites. “Some of the shows I really enjoyed were ‘‘The Outer Banks’’ and “Grey’s Anatomy”,” Hoelscher said.

Hoelscher would also watch movies like “Onward” streaming on Disney Plus, and she said she would recommend it to anyone.     

Senior, Riley Andrews, watched up to 20 seasons of a show and around 20 movies in just four months. He would often watch shows that were related to crime and out of all the movies he watched “Saving Private Ryan” was at the top. 

Quarantine provided a break for people and to fill in the void of boredom many people could watch show after show with no break.    

To some, it felt like they were just sitting around in their houses and would add walking or some kind of outside activity into their daily routines. Seniors, Dominic Shoenherr and  Williams, would go on occasional runs during quarantine. Stacey said, “Near the beginning of quarantine I went on a walk everyday, but then I got bored of them and stopped.”

It seems like the only way to escape boredom during this time was to take up some kind of physical activity; and although it wasn’t walking, senior Devin Otang began to go on bike rides. 

Along with walking, another common hobby that people tried was baking. During the first few weeks,  Williams said, “I attempted to master a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but it never worked out because I always forgot to take them out of the oven on time.”  Stacey also tried to accomplish a few recipes, but was not determined to continue baking. 

To end their boredom, people started doing new things and found hobbies that were right for them. Hoelscher began to shop online a lot more than she usually did.  Williams would often find herself going on drives just to get lost and try to find a way back to her house without the help of any directions. She would go as far as an hour away sometimes seeing horses and cows along her journeys. 

Stacey even picked up a book and read it for leisure. Although she didn’t continue reading after finishing the first book, she would recommend, “Call Me By Your Name” for mature and able readers.  

Quarantine was a rough time for many people, but many also made the most of it, by filling that time alone with things that they enjoyed. Even if people could not see their friends during this time, people found things to fill their boredom.