Throughout the pandemic, I found the quarantine experience to be beneficial by giving me more time to spend with relatives, achieve goals, and acquire a new hobby. 

Before the pandemic, I  might have not connected with long-distance relatives or friends due to a busy work schedule, or school. Since the pandemic, I have spent more time with family and have communicated more with distanced relatives. 

Before the pandemic, there wasn’t enough time to do self-care activities due to work, school, and many errands. Since the pandemic, there is more time to do self-care like meditating, a good sleep routine, and skincare. 

Before the pandemic, I wasn’t organized. I had a cluttered room. After the pandemic, I have gained more time and energy to clean.

Before the pandemic I didn’t focus on myself. Since the pandemic, I focus on my hobbies, and do things I like to do such as read books. For example, I like to read books by Junji Ito, and read three of them. 

Additionally, before the pandemic I didn’t make healthy decisions due to having a fast-paced schedule or being in a hurry to get to school. Afterwards I feel like I can prepare and make more healthy choices for meals.

I have learned that I can use this experience during quarantine to learn or discover new hobbies like cooking, crafting, or drawing. This can be a positive benefit to myself and many people because it allows room to grow mentally and be happier.

Prior to the pandemic I was not very skilled at basic day-to-day cooking.

The quarantine gave me the opportunity to step up to a new challenge and help myself learn new ways to advance in my cooking skills that will definitely benefit me in the future. It allows me to be more responsible for myself. Some examples of this were learning how to make dishes like stir fry, cauliflower rice, and tamales.