It’s definitely been a rough journey for all of us as ever since we were told by La Sierra that all classes during the Spring 2020 quarter would be online via Zoom. Adjusting to a new lifestyle is a skill that is difficult for many of us. Personally speaking, it was a bit of a struggle to create and maintain a schedule just to make sure that I was not wasting hours that seemed to be flying by. There was a time when I lost track of time during the second week of quarantine and I remember being caught off guard when my mom told me it was Saturday when I thought it was Thursday! In that moment, I realized that I had to get a hold of myself and create a schedule that could provide my days with structure. Although there were plenty of days when I was stressed out with what was going on, I plan on discussing what I did to help me get out of various slumps that I went through as well as valuable lessons I learned through this experience.
During the first few days of quarantine, I had mixed feelings of anxiety and excitement. I was nervous about how the Covid-19 pandemic could continue to negatively affect us so I tried to keep myself busy by doing home activities. For instance, one cooking activity I have always wanted to do was to make various Korean dishes. One dish I have been eyeing to make was Korean fried rice with oyster sauce. After watching a YouTuber make this recipe, I had an urge to make it. Having all the ingredients such as eggs, garlic, onions, scallions, and mushrooms needed in the freezer was a blessing as it made it much easier to cook the dish. In addition to making various Korean dishes, I attempted to follow the new trend of making a whipped coffee called Dalgona coffee. I learned that this trend originated from Korea as an activity for people to do at home under quarantine. This activity consists of whisking a mixture of 2 tablespoons of instant coffee, 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar, and 2 tablespoons of hot water over 4000 times in order to create a foamy coffee mixture to put on top of milk. After doing so, you have yourself an inexpensive, delicious latte!
For the next 3 weeks, I remember the struggles I had with maintaining a healthy diet. Living at home meant that all the Asian snacks and junk food in the pantry were available to me, at all times. After watching an episode of my new favorite Korean drama, Hospital Playlist, I would get hungry and eat an ice cream bar from the freezer. Then, after studying for an hour, I would crave a Choco-pie (a popular Korean cake) from the pantry. After realizing how much I was eating, I had to learn another level of self-control to avoid eating too much food. It was quite funny, actually. My mom giggled at how much I was struggling to not reach for the chocolate Korean snacks called Pepero from the pantry. To kick start improving my health, I began to incorporate an exercise regime into my daily schedule that consisted of a 40 minute jog at my neighborhood’s hiking trail, a 10-minute leg strengthening workout at home, and a five minute stretch to end my routine.
After incorporating other regimes–in addition to my exercise–into my daily schedule, I found that I was able to make each day more meaningful and productive. To end off this article, I pray each and every day that the health of all students, parents, and the human population in general is safe and well. Blessings to all!
- Kyung Suh (Kay) Kim (Class of 2021, Biomedical Sciences)