A Day in My Life: A Teen’s Perspective

Written by Theertha, Teen Volunteer
Halifax Public Libraries' Teen Blog is written by and for teens. Discover more posts here., opens a new window

You get it. Things are pretty different from what they used to be. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly changed our daily lives. From wearing masks, staying home, to virtually volunteering, I’m going to give you a glimpse of what my life is like as a high school student during the COVID-19 pandemic. Having a routine is important right now—even if it's pretty low key.

Starting my day

I wake up at 7:30 AM since I need to go to school. I get ready for the day by brushing my teeth, taking a quick shower, and untangling my messy hair—which I get extremely annoyed with every morning. 

Something that has really helped me to get ready more quickly is to pick my outfit that I plan to wear the night before. This saves a lot of time in the morning, as I don't have to take the time to wonder, “What am I going to wear today?”.

To save even more time, I get my backpack ready for the next day the night before by packing an extra mask and making sure I have all the assignments in my bag. I make sure that all my devices are fully charged for the following day. Incorporating these little time-saving tricks has really helped me during the pandemic, since there’s a lot more to forget about in the morning—like forgetting a mask.

After I’m done getting ready, I go and eat the most important meal of the day! Breakfast.

First class

Starting at 9:30am, I’m in school. Because of the pandemic, we have to maintain social distancing from our classmates, friends and teachers. We have to sanitize, sanitize, sanitize. And we wear masks. 

Usually, we would have four classes per day but we only attend two per day now. This means that students are in a class for close to three hours! We have this in place because it lowers the movement of students in school, which is a significant change for me. It's such a long class.

Lunch

We get to eat our lunch at 12:00 PM. This is when I get to see my friends, go outside (if the weather is nice), and take my mask off for a bit. Having this break in my day is very important, because it gives me the chance to stretch my legs out, before I have my second three hour class of the day. 

Second class

After lunch, I have my second class. I have Chemistry, and we are going to the lab today to do the hands-on portion of the unit that we are currently on, which is stoichiometry., opens a new window I am doing a limiting reagent lab, which is super simple by the way. Sounds complicated, I know! But it isn’t!

After school

After 3:30pm, I go home for the day. In normal times, I might hang out with friends or do extra-curricular activities. But now, I go directly home. But on a positive note, I can be mask-free here which is something I look forward to almost everyday—which I'm sure you do too. I usually freshen up from school and finish homework, work on ongoing projects/assignments, and chat with friends and family. I also tend to practice piano every day, since I’m preparing to write piano exams.

This is when I also work on online volunteering blogs and artwork for the Library. Seems intense, but these are actually my chillest hours of my day!

Dinner

And now, dinner time! Dinner is my favourite meal of the day (since it's more likely to be accompanied by dessert). Plus, I get to talk to family and hear how their days were.

After dinner

After dinner around 8:00 PM, I tend to study and review material that I might have not fully understood. I’m lucky to have these extra hours since they help me a ton when I have a lot of tests coming up.

After that, I take some time to watch YouTube or read a book.

I go to bed around 10:00 p.m since a good day tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep.

About the writer

Theertha Madhi is a high school student with future goals of becoming a paediatrician. She enjoys spending her time with family and friends and has been playing piano for more than 8 years.