Sam Luft

For junior Sam Luft, quarantine has been an enjoyable break. As a more introverted individual, lack of communication has had less of an impact on him compared to many other students. 

Though he said that he tends to be more on the quiet side, Luft has found himself missing his close peers and teachers. “I do miss seeing people at school, [and] being able to socialize,” he said. However, Luft has found that spending time with his younger sister has helped with the social aspect of quarantine since they have a close relationship. 

In order to keep busy, Luft has established a daily routine for himself. He tries to read and spend time outside in nature. “I’ll finish a book once every two days,” he said. “Sometimes I’ll [also] just sit outside and [for] ten hours straight just read a book. That’s crazy… but it helps me.”

Luft also started doing more projects around the house with his sister in his free time. “We started painting old shirts and putting designs [on them],” he said. “She really likes designing clothes… so I’ve been helping her with that, and that’s been fun.”

With digital learning days, Luft sometimes feels the added stress of completing school work on time. He likes to get started on his assignments as early as he can so that he has more time for other activities. “I do appreciate when teachers in advance post work for Tuesday or Wednesday,” he said. “Then I can get it all done on Sunday, and just relax a little bit more on [other] days.”

With his senior year starting in the fall, Luft thinks that the class of 2021 will have a much different high school experience than seniors from previous years. “I think our experience is going to be vastly different from… the seniors of two years ago,” he said. “A lot of things will be rushed and overlooked in the normal process that is being a senior.”

Overall, Luft misses interacting with his friends around campus, but has been able to find a daily routine to help himself manage being in quarantine.