My name is Surobi. I am a 15-year-old teenager who is among the 66.65 million people living in the UK who has been affected by this invisible virus. This article will be presenting some of the key highlights of how my life has been in these 6 months. 

March:

• Wednesday 18th March 2020 was the first day of lockdown for me. My school was partially closed but then on Friday 20th March, Boris Johnson himself announced a lockdown for the UK. This was the first time in billions of years that this ever had to happen. 
• Schools all over the country got closed down until further notice and GCSEs and A-Levels 2020 were cancelled, as well as people started working from home. This meant that as a Year 10 student, my GCSE Biology exams were also cancelled and I would get predicted grades from my Biology teacher. Most people slowly stopped eating out often including me and my family.
• There were certain precautions that everyone had to take which still exists today such as wearing face coverings outside, washing hands regularly and sometimes doing social distancing.
• I had to start doing online school where my teachers set me work through Google Classroom. Everyone had to adapt to staying at home for a long time.
• Since the NHS were and are the ones working hard and risking their own lives to save lives, the Government released a ‘Clap For Carers’. 
• On Thursday 26th March, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, himself got Coronavirus and even some other ministers got it too. 
• On Sunday 29th March, I made my first ever podcast which is known as ‘The Chat Library’ with my sister.We discuss all girl problems and we post twice a week still to the present day. This really boosted my confidence and pushed me out of my comfort zone. 

April:

• On Thursday 2nd April, I let my school friends know about my podcast which again pushed me out of my comfort zone but I got a lot of positive feedback and appreciation for it.
• On Friday 10th April, I started my second anonymous podcast which I will not share here but I also post there with my sister twice a week.
• On Thursday 16th April, I did my GCSE Biology Paper 2 Mock at home which was definitely a first for me and many others. 
• On 19th April, I started a mini series on my website where I shared 4 articles talking about my one-month experience quarantining.
• On Friday 24th April, Ramadan for us Muslims began, and this was the first time I was fasting in quarantine. Mosques were closed and families from different households were not able to eat together, but we went through Ramadan at home. Throughout this month and the next few months, I may have had a spiritual and religious awakening as I pray more and focus on my religion Islam.
• Boris Johnson was recovered after getting admitted to St Thomas Hospital and he came back to work. 
• As a person who used to watch Bollywood very frequently, I also found out that on 29th April, a famous actor called Irfan Khan passed away, and the next day Rishi Kapoor passed away (RIP to them both).

May:

• On 10th May, I started an Instagram for my podcast which is @thechatlibrary, where we post motivational quotes and podcast previews. 
• On Sunday 24th May, it was Eid-ul-Fitr which I celebrated at home and only went right outside my house to take some photos. Again, this was very different to my usual Eids.
• On Monday 25th May, one of the biggest tragedies which set a huge fire amongst many was George Floyd’s death, a man who was mercilessly killed just for being black. This went viral on social media, and people started raising awareness of ‘Black Lives Matter’ and even protesting outside during COVID-19. More people also started learning about racism and its history.

June:

• On 5th June, I activated my old Instagram @valuable.seconds and changed to @surobiscribbles. That is my personal/business account where I post poetry and photography. 
• My school decided to allow Year 10 students to come into school if they wished to only for 6 days before the end of the academic year. I did not go though.
•  On 14th June, I found out one of the biggest shocks ever. One Indian actor known as Sushant Singh Rajput passed away.
• On 20th June, I properly went out grocery shopping with my mother since lockdown began.
• Near the end of the month, I started having one-to-one meetings with my teachers via Google Meet and this was just such a new experience for me.

July:

• On 3rd July, a famous Indian choreographer called Saroj Khan passed away (RIP to her).
• On 17th July, it was the last day of school as a Year 10 student and on that day, I even went to Westfield Stratford with my mother. I took the bus for the first time since the lockdown began.
• On 19th July, it was my 15th birthday! I got ready, went to my local park with my mother, ate delicious homemade food and cut a small chocolate cake.
• On 22nd July, I met my three school friends after about four months at my birthday picnic. I, therefore, celebrated my birthday with my friends in my local park.
• On 24th July, I went to Lloyd Park with my sister.
• On 31st July, I celebrated Eid-ul-Adha by going to Gokyuzu Restaurant with my sister and this was the first time we ate in a restaurant since lockdown began.

August:

• Rishi Sunak, one of the Conservative MPs released the new ‘Eat To Help Out Scheme’ where you get a 50% discount on food or non-alcoholic drinks to eat or drink in (up to a maximum of £10 discount per diner) every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday between 3 and 31 August as many times as you like. People started going out much more often and posting food on their social media.
• I started promoting my podcast  and my website on my personal Instagram page @surobiscribbles. 
• On 20th August, along with the other GCSE students, I went to school (after about 5 months) and collected my GCSE Biology results. I reacted to it at home and told my family. Some GCSE and A-Level students had mixed feelings about this.
• Throughout the month of August, I had travelled to Lea Valley Park, Gokyuzu Restaurant,  Sahara Grill, Franzos , Koz Restaurant, The Urban Chocolatier  and also went normal grocery shopping.
• Near the end of the month, I disabled my Instagram @thechatlibrary (which had over 100 followers) and my Instagram @surobiscribbles (which had over 500 followers) for my own personal reasons.
• Chadwick Boseman passed away on 28th August 2020 (RIP to him).

September:

• On 2nd September, I went out with my friend to Walthamstow Wetlands.
• I also have done some back to school prep.

My school will be starting again from 7th September 2020 and I will, In Sha Allah, be going into Year 11.

These were some of the key highlights of what happened over the 6 month lockdown. It has been a very different experience. Of course, there is no denying that I did have some low and negative days but you know what, there were more positives than negatives.

I know that this COVID-19 battle has not ended yet and I know that the cases could increase in the future. All my thoughts go out to those who have either passed away, have had loved ones passing away and to every single person’s life who has changed because of this virus. Please comment down below how your life has changed due to COVID-19. 

Please check out my other articles related to experiences for more of the experiences I have been through or feel free to surf through my website for any other article.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day! 

With over 14 million cases of Coronavirus cases and over 600,000 deaths worldwide, everyone knows how big COVID-19 has been and the numerable impacts it has had on so many people. My name is Surobi, a 15-year-old teenager and I am one of the many people who have faced lockdown here in the UK due to COVID-19. As I have just graduated Year 10 while quarantining for the past 4 months, it has been quite a journey for me at home. So, here I shall tell you my somewhat 4-month review of quarantining and how it has changed my life just like it has for many others around this world.

Now before I get started, make sure to not compare how much you have done to me as I am privileged to be living with a supportive family who has been there with me this whole time, which may not be the same for everyone reading this. Now let’s go down memory lane:

I Created My First Two Podcasts

I wanted to create my own podcast for quite a long time as I actually love to talk, express my thoughts and connect with people. This lockdown was the perfect opportunity where I could have a flexible routine and incorporate a new side project into my life. So in April 2019, I started my first podcast ‘The Chat Library’ with my sister which now has over 25 episodes and some of my friends know about it. Soon after, I created another podcast too, and this is what I now do weekly.

 I Created My Instagram Pages

Another thing that I have managed to do is create my own Instagram pages. I have a whole Instagram  @thechatlibrary for my podcast and I have also started my personal Instagram page where I share my passionate poetry and photography known as  @surobiscribbles. I somehow also managed to grow about 60 followers in my personal Instagram account in just about 2 weeks (what!) This is also something I have incorporated into my routine. 

I Kept A Record For How Many Days I Can Stay At Home 

I am quite an adventurous person and I love to go out. However, this lockdown allowed me to challenge myself and push myself out of my comfort zone by staying at home. I think that it is possible to stay productive and motivated at home and even though going outside may be fun, you need to realise that you have to adapt to change and sometimes be flexible.

It Was More Inevitable To Have Low And Good Days

It is normal that as social creatures, it may be hard when you are suddenly just restricted to staying at home. I have realised that it is okay to feel tired of staying at home and having the discipline to stay as productive as you can be. But, also I have cherished the happy days such as celebrating my birthday at home and really enjoying the small, simple things in life with my nearest and dearest people like my family.

I Got Closer To My Religion

As a Muslim student living in the busy life in the UK, it can sometimes be hard to take a step back and spend some time on your religion. While staying at home, I have built good habits which have changed my routine. Through Salah, my routine is more structured and I know that Allah is there to help me in this uncertain time.

These were five ways that my routine has changed in this lockdown and some of these things will still be carrying on when I go back to school in September. 

All my thoughts go to those who have suffered in any way from this virus whether you have stayed at home for weeks or if you have a loved one who has sadly passed away from this virus. 

I do believe that doing these 5 things have made this lockdown which could have been a negative experience into a more positive one. 

Check out other articles related to COVID-19:

Remember to take care of yourself, and stay happy, healthy and well.

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

Take care of your mental health.

Since this is already a very uncertain time, you do not want to burden yourself too much with too much work. This can be the time for you to pause and reflect on yourself. If you lack motivation, feel burnout or require some purpose to get back to work, I recommend that you just take a break for possibly 2-3 days where you take care of your mental health by meditating, praying and talking to someone (video calling or people at home). I don’t recommend using too much social media at this time. However, you should not use the excuse of ‘mental health’ if you feel completely fine and you just want to procrastinate.

Organise your house.

Since nearly half of the academic year was nearly completed, your house may have started looking a bit disorganised. If that is the case, this is the perfect time for you to spice up and clean your house. Redecorate a bit of your house, organise everything and just live in a clean environment that you will feel productive and happy in.

Write down your goals.

As life could have taken a turn for you, especially if your exams were cancelled, it can be hard to define what you want to do currently. So, therefore, I recommend you to just grab a pen and a piece of paper and write down who you want to be in the future. Then try to write an action plan for your goals and how you can reach this. This will redefine your purpose for life.

Make a routine for yourself during this period.

It is best to try to make a routine that is adaptable to you only. If you find that you are distracted by younger siblings, for example, maybe you could wake up earlier when they are still asleep and get some work done before they wake up. Find a routine where you can really manage your time and obviously remember to have breaks in between.

Try to stay up-to-date with your schoolwork.

I recommend that you try to stay up-to-date with your schoolwork as later on, it can pile up. If this is hard for you to do due to the numerous distractions you have around you, then stick to the routine that you have made and maybe tell someone in your family to keep you accountable. You could also try to stick to your school timetable as closely as possible and try to do your lessons, especially if you are set work from your teachers.

Practise self-care.

Self-care does not only mean just having a spa routine, but it also means making sure that you eat well and exercise regularly. This is vital for you to ensure that you are also taking care of your physical health especially before going back to school.

Have a habit tracker.

This relates to my previous point about practising self-care and that is track those habits. Essentially, this is when you have a table with different habits you want to do regularly, such as having limited screen time, praying and exercising. You can tick these off daily or weekly. This will also help to build self-discipline.

Talk to someone regularly.

We, humans, are social creatures and I know it can be hard for most people to be told to stay behind shut doors and not be in the midst of our usually busy lives. However, if quarantining is recommended by the Government, we should follow it but if you need to talk to someone, I recommend that you talk to your family members who live with you at home, or alternatively, text, call or video chat your friends and relatives who don’t live with you.

Have a side project.

If you don’t have an extracurricular activity or a side project amongst your normal workload, then this could be the time for you to introduce this into your life. Starting a side project requires commitment but you can experiment now to see a side project you could do. Examples are creating a website, a Youtube channel, an Instagram or a Pinterest board to share with this world.

Learn something new.

This is also the time to gain some extra knowledge by watching relevant TED talks and documentaries. Knowledge is surely power and if you have always wanted to learn about a good specific topic or read that good book, then this is the time for you to do that!

I hope this article is helpful as it is like a checklist that if you want to follow if your school is currently closed due to coronavirus. Make sure to check out these sources for more information:

Sources:  https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-51951914/coronavirus-uk-schools-to-close-to-prevent-virus-spread

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

Stay safe and well. Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

In this article, I wanted to share the positives (hard to find) and the negatives of this pandemic and how it has changed my one month of staying at home. This is just my own experience of what happened to me and feel free to comment below if you have been quarantining and your experience. I have also left some sources of any information, all information correct as of 18th April 2020, and please don’t take my word for anything. So here I shall get started.

This is my third article of the four articles I will be posting about my one-month quarantine experience so stay tuned for the other last one and check out the previous two :).

I Have Resisted The Temptation Of Going Out 

As I have mentioned in my previous articles, the weather where I live has mostly been amazing with the sun peeking through the clouds and the soft breeze is very nice. However, all I do is look out of my window and resist the temptation of going out as I want to put in my bit and follow what the government is saying.

I Found Out That Prime Minister Boris Johnson Contracted COVID-19

Boris Johnson and coronavirus: the inside story of his illness

This was very upsetting to find out in the midst of the already saddening Coronavirus cases increasing every day. Everyone was praying for him to get well soon.

We All Have Appreciated The NHS More

NHS We Love You: Thanking the heroes saving lives on the frontline

As a community, we are truly more grateful for the NHS more than ever as they are risking their own lives to save others’ lives. The Clap For Carers is very heartwarming to me and I believe that even after this pandemic goes, we should clap for all the workers of this country who try to make this country the best it can be.

I Have Started To Learn New Skills

In my opinion, this is the perfect time to learn that skill you have always wanted to learn or subscribe to that course you have always wanted to watch. I have definitely been doing that and therefore, I have started learning new skills, such as building my own website and even learning how to cook. I have definitely benefited from this.

I Have Been Reading More

As well as learning new skills, I have also been reading more. Reading is one of those things I love to do but when I go to school, I am busy and I don’t get enough time to do much of it. At this period, I have been reading more and gaining more knowledge. 

This was the third out of the four articles I will be posting about my quarantine experience. All my thoughts go to those who have loved ones who are suffering from this horrible disease or who have contracted COVID-19 themselves. Please stay at home if you are advised to do so and only go out if it is necessary. Pray to God and take care of yourself and your family and stay happy and healthy :). Check out my other articles:

COVID-19 Lockdown Secrets | How To Make The Most Out Of This Time

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

In this article, I wanted to share the positives (hard to find) and the negatives of this pandemic and how it has changed my one month of staying at home. This is just my own experience of what happened to me and feel free to comment below if you have been quarantining and your experience. I have also left some sources of any information, all information correct as of 18th April 2020, and please don’t take my word for anything. So here I shall get started.

This is my second article of the four articles I will be posting about my one-month quarantine experience so stay tuned for the other two :).

The UK Went On Lockdown

UK lockdown extended for ‘at least’ three weeks

Coronavirus Update (Live): 2,313,897 Cases and 159,033 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic

Coronavirus UK: how many cases are there near me?

The UK went on lockdown and apparently, you can only go out for very limited reasons. The COVID-19 cases are increasing every day and the regular articles I look at are some of the above.

I Have Spent More Time With My Family

During this one-month quarantining, I have definitely seen my family members much more often and have talked to them more. My brother comes to my room more often and I talk to my sister more who shares a room with me. I also talk to my parents and all this has given me the opportunity to talk to my family more which I personally love to do but when we do talk about COVID-19, it still upsets me.

I Have Spent More Time On Social Media

Of course, one of the drawbacks to staying at home with access to your laptop, phone and other distractions is that you use them more. My screen time has been higher, mostly because I do watch more YouTube videos. However, a change that I have realised is that because I want to spend time learning new skills and accomplishing goals at the time I am staying at home, I have started watching more educational content such as Prophets Stories from Iqra Cartoon and listening to Podcasts.

I Read The News More Often

The news is a good place to keep connected with the world, learn new vocabulary and read more but it can be quite negative at times. I read the news often in the past but now I read about 2-3 articles daily on various websites mostly about COVID-19. This is good as I watch the news more and am more considerate to those who are suffering from the virus.

I Have Not Been Eating Out Due To This COVID-19 Lockdown

I used to eat out very often, even in school, before the lockdown but when I started quarantining, I stopped eating out and now I eat homemade food prepared by my parents. This is delicious and usually healthier and I do think that even after the pandemic goes away, I will eat out less often. You can find out more on my podcast about this. The Chat Library

This was the second out of the four articles I will be posting about my quarantine experience. All my thoughts go to those who have loved ones who are suffering from this horrible disease or who have contracted COVID-19 themselves. Please stay at home if you are advised to do so and only go out if it is necessary. Pray to God and take care of yourself and your family and stay happy and healthy :). Check out my other articles:

COVID-19 Lockdown Secrets | How To Make The Most Out Of This Time

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!

In this article, I wanted to share the positives (hard to find) and the negatives of this pandemic and how it has changed my one month of staying at home. This is just my own experience of what happened to me and feel free to comment below if you have been quarantining and your experience. I have also left some sources of any information, all information correct as of 18th April 2020, and please don’t take my word for anything. So here I shall get started.

This is my first article of the four articles I will be posting about my one-month quarantine experience so stay tuned for the other three :).

My School Closed and My Exams Were Cancelled

GCSE and A-Level exams cancelled: How will UK grades be calculated?

When will schools reopen in the UK, and is it safe to send my child back?

Tuesday 17th March 2020 was my last day in school. I received the letter that my school would partially close on my last lesson which was Drama. I was truly shocked and all my classmates were shrieking. This news was upsetting as I never thought in a million years that my school would be closed due to an invisible virus, but I knew that I had more time to spend time on myself and quarantining would help reduce the spread of the virus for everyone. I was also supposed to have my GCSE Biology Paper 2 Mock the next day, which I could not do the next day. On Friday 20th March, my school was shut fully as well as many other schools. 

I Started Home Learning/Online School At Home And I Struggled To Find Things To Do At Home

With this new situation, I initially struggled to find a routine for myself. However, I soon got back to work at home as my teachers were setting me tasks to do through Google Classroom. I started waking up at the same time I would wake up for school and just followed my normal school timetable by following the same lessons I would have on that day in school. I also had breaks in between and this helped me to get my work done. After that, I adapted to this online school. I then tried finding things to do at home and I found many activities for myself to do to make productive use of my time which I will talk about later.

The Last Time I Stepped Out of My House

The last time I stepped out of my house was on Friday 20th March 2020, where I went outside before the UK lockdown and that was right outside my house. I took some pictures with my sister for my GCSE Photography. After that, I have not stepped out of my house.

My Substitute For Going Out

With this new experience of being told to stay at home, I did sometimes have the urge to go out but I did not. I found my substitution to enjoy the new sunny weather from looking outside through my brother’s large window. I could still feel the fresh air.

I Started Appreciating More Time At Home

As an adventurous, outgoing person, this was difficult in the beginning but then, talking to my beloved family members, learning more skills and setting myself goals to have a more positive mindset really helped me think about myself. It taught me to be more considerate together for those who are suffering from this terrible virus. The unity that this world is having right now is quite remarkable and I can see that from the comfort of my home.

This was the first out of the four articles I will be posting about my quarantine experience. All my thoughts go to those who have loved ones who are suffering from this horrible disease or who have contracted COVID-19 themselves. Please stay at home if you are advised to do so and only go out if it is necessary. Pray to God and take care of yourself and your family and stay happy and healthy :). Check out my other articles:

Thank you for reading, and have a lovely day!