© Manarondong
Yes! It’s summer now! No homework, no requirements, and the best of all — dream destination, here we come! What? What is this? No, this cannot be happening. Lockdown? What do you mean? For six months!
This was my reaction when I figured out that I was going to be stuck at home for months. I was already thinking about packing my bags, hopping on an airplane, and flying to our set destination for the summer. Well, that obviously did not happen. I remember just ten days into quarantine, I would think I was about to die of boredom. I was really willing to try anything new. So now, I will introduce to you some of the hobbies that I picked up during quarantine.
One of the hobbies that I picked up during lockdown was cooking. Cooking is a very useful skill that you can have. It can relieve stress. When you cook, you try to focus on making your food delicious. It can clear your mind because you get your hands dirty and what you are making would be all you are thinking about. It can boost your creativity since you get to experiment with different ingredients. Most importantly, it can bring your family together. This will strengthen your relationship and create memories. Personally, this was my favorite hobby that I picked up during quarantine. It was always fun to make my own dishes and experiment with new things.
Another hobby that you can pick up during quarantine is planting. This can help you boost your productivity since you need to take care of them. Now that we can’t go out due to quarantine, plants will help us keep in touch with nature. When we get in touch with nature, this can lessen our mental fatigue and stress. Instead, you will experience relaxation. It has also been proven that when indoor plants are present, work performance increases. When I take care of our plants, I always feel refreshed to see some green. It is really relaxing to take care of plants.
The next hobby that you can try is drawing. When I draw, it really relaxes my mind. It can really help you improve your memory. With a pen and paper, you will be able to release your negative energy and interpret your feelings with a work of art. It can improve your motor skills which is also important for a lot of other things as well. In my opinion, drawing is a really fun thing to do especially if you want to learn something new and cure your boredom. I really enjoy creating art because it is a way for me to express my ideas. It really feels like an accomplishment when you are finally done going through that process.
One hobby that will keep you busy for hours is reading books. This hobby is very beneficial physically, mentally, and emotionally. This can help aid sleep which I know a lot of students need. It expands your vocabulary and makes you more knowledgeable about literature. It can take you to a faraway place where magical things can take place. It also improves your analytical thinking skills since you need to analyze everything that you are reading. It keeps our mind sharp and expands our mind which is very beneficial for everyone. We can take advantage of the internet because now there are a lot of websites and platforms that provide audio books or even digital copies of the book.
The final hobby that you can learn during this quarantine is to learn a new language. Speaking a foreign language challenges your brain to recognise, negotiate meaning, and of course, remember all those language systems. This challenges your brain to remember the meaning of the language you want to speak. This can also improve your first language as well. It really pushes your limits when it comes to having a sharp mind and of course, it is always nice to be able to speak multiple languages and you will not have to multitask whenever you watch a k-drama for all k-drama lovers out there. It will be easier now since we can take advantage of the internet and the different platforms on it.
All of us know that this year is a little different from the past, but that is not going to stop us from learning new things and have fun while we are stuck at home. The majority of these hobbies are to keep your mind sharp. This is very important so that we can stay attentive especially now that we are back in school. I hope that you will be able to try some of these hobbies and become enjoyable things to do for yourself as well.
WRITERS' PROFILE
SOFIA BONDOC
The Augustinian MIRROR Staffer
ABDUL AZEEM D. MANARONDONG
Design - Cartooning Staffer
Grade 11 STEM
