Fill in the blank: Once the stay-at-home restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic are eased and Illinois moves into phase four of its reopening plan, I want to…

Jack Baudoin : Visit the people I care about

I am a very social person. I love my family, but being stuck at home has really put a damper on my personality.

I am used to hanging out with friends all the time, if not every day then at least every other day. Because of the COVID-19 shutdown, this has been taken away from me, and I have been struggling.

I understand that social distancing is for the best; not just for my own health but for the people around me as well. That does not mean however that it has not been difficult to adjust to being alone.

However, I am still able to communicate with my friends through phone calls and by other means, but that face to face interaction and hangout time is really missed.

As soon as I am able, I will go and see these people. While the rest of the world might not be back to normal, I will at least feel a certain level of normal back in my life.

Charles Fordyce: Go out to eat

My life really hasn’t changed since the quarantine. There’s just less people around. In fact I haven’t done a single thing differently minus wearing a mandated mask to the store.

Travel plans have been halted for the future because even if I were to go to those places the stores and sites would be closed making the whole thing an overly long car trip.

But the thing that’s really irking me is that I can’t go sit down at a restaurant.  The first thing I do will be setting up some dinner plans and going out to a nice burger restaurant.  I’ve tried ordering it to go but it just isn’t the same in quality and experience.  Not to mention a lot of restaurants are just outright closed which means you can’t get them anyways.  

Sadly, from the sound of it, I won’t be able to do that even in June unless I sit outside and eat it. But eventually this lockdown will end, we’ll all laugh, and I will get my burger.

Summer Fitzgerald: Focus on self-care

When it comes to everything that COVID-19 has changed, a lot of things have been taken away from me. I had several plans of going to concerts with friends, some even out of state. I had the best job I could ever ask for lined up for over the summer.

I plan on doing things to slowly get my wellbeing back into what it was prior to the pandemic.

I want to attend a concert. I have always been a concert junkie, and COVID-19 has made me miss them tremendously, especially those that are now postponed. 

Thankfully, I got a haircut just before shutdowns began and have been growing it out. I won’t be sprinting to the hair salon right away, but I am definitely due for getting my nails done. Just like the Snickers commercials, I am truly not myself when I don’t have acrylics.

I also want to go out to eat for a meal with some friends, enjoy each others company, and eat some good food. It feels like a lifetime since I did that with someone.