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  2020-04-29

  Online Shopping

  Since the COVID-19 outbreak, I have not been able to leave my house and go to the store. Personally, I love to go shopping and walk around various malls and outlet centers. But, due to COVID-19, I’ve been forced to shop elsewhere. Because I haven’t been visiting traditional stores, I have been purchasing a lot more stuff online. I usually shop online occasionally, but now I’m shopping on online stores almost every day. Since I’ve been away from school, my number of online purchases has grown. In the past two weeks, I have purchased makeup, makeup brushes, a jewelry box, cleaning supplies for my Pandora bracelet, printed photos, and a photo album. Needless to say, I’ve been buying quite a lot. Shopping online can be dangerous because you can’t see the money directly leaving your account and you can forget how much you have really spent. The stress of COVID-19 and having to finish my college semester at home has pushed me to shop more. COVID-19 has not only been dangerous to everyone’s health, but also to their wallets.
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  2020-04-20

  Family Game Night

  Due to COVID-19, my family and I have tried to find more ways to hang out together at home. Before the outbreak, we usually visited local stores, movie theaters, and restaurants each week. However, since COVID-19 has forced us to stay home, we have been trying to find things to do together that do not involve going out. As a group, we have been playing video and board games, watching TV and movies, eating dinner as a family, cleaning the house, and walking our dog. Recently, for one of our game nights, we decided to play a new game called “Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor”. This game is an ‘at-home’ escape room. My family and I love going to escape rooms, so we thought this would be a fun alternative to try during COVID-19. My family was able to successfully escape and finish the game in the allotted time. We really enjoyed playing this game because it allowed us to participate in one of our favorite activities, without leaving our house.
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  2020-04-15

  My Brother Playing Beat Saber on the Oculus VR Headset

  Since COVID-19 is forcing people to stay indoors and isolate from others, I have had the opportunity to spend more time with my family. Every night, we try to eat dinner together and do something as a group, whether we watch a movie or play a game. The other evening my brother, Joshua, elected that we play a game on his Oculus VR headset. We played a game called Beat Saber. In the game different colored blocks come flying towards you and you have to hit them, following the beat of the song playing in the background. This proved to be a fun way for us to get together and hang out. I will say that if you ever elect to play this game be prepared for sore arms the next day. It is definitely a workout. Even though COVID-19 has disrupted everyone’s plans, don’t let it stop you from hanging out with loved ones (at home). I was really frustrated when I had to leave college and come back home, but I’ve actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Even though I miss being in class and seeing my friends, it is nice to finally have some time that I can spend with my family.
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  2020-04-10

  Email Cancelling Disney College Program Fall Advantage 2020

  The picture I have included in this post is a copy of the email sent out to many of the upcoming Disney College Program Participants. Unfortunately, all the future Disney Cast Members who were scheduled to arrive in May were notified that their program was cancelled. I was accepted to participate in the Disney College Program for the Fall Program, and I am supposed to arrive in August. Due to my arrival date, my program is still scheduled to proceed as planned. My heart goes out to all the students who had gotten their hopes up and made plans to work and live in Disney World for the rest of the year. I can’t fathom how devastating that must be for them. And, while this cancellation doesn’t directly affect me, it does scare me. Even though my program is still scheduled to proceed, that could change any day and I too could receive the devastating email stating that my program has been cancelled. Honestly, I don’t really know how to feel. While I’m happy that I am still scheduled to go, I know that it could be taken away from me at any minute. I am truly sorry for the Spring 2020 and Fall Advantage 2020 students whose programs were cut short or completely cancelled. In response to this email, my student advisor thought that it would be a good idea to register for Fall 2020 classes at my college just in case the Disney College Program doesn’t work. While I’m glad that I have a plan to fall back on if necessary, I wish I didn’t have to. When I received my acceptance email to the Disney College Program, it was one of the most exciting moments of my life because this is something that I have wanted to do for years. And the thought that it could be taken away and I would have to come up with a Plan B is really disheartening.
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  04/01/2020

  Moving to Rock Hill

  I took this picture when my family moved into our new townhouse in Rock Hill. We had already planned to move to our new place before the COVID-19 outbreak, so we decided to follow through with our plan. This photo of my bedroom was taken shortly after we moved in, which explains why my room is filled with boxes and other stuff. While our move still went on as scheduled, our packing process was somewhat disrupted by COVID-19. Because we are practicing social-distancing, none of our friends or extended family were able to help us pack and upload during our move. My mother was the most upset by this because she wasn't able to say goodbye to any of her friends before we moved. Overall, our move has been successful, but COVID-19 has prevented us from exploring our new city and neighboring areas.