I have been in isolation for 22 days, 16 hours and 34 minutes. Like many teens, I have come in contact only with my immediate family. It seems as if time has stopped, and yet coronavirus is evolving every minute. Each news story that comes out is more dismal than the next.

Thinking back to a few months ago, I remember hearing about coronavirus for the first time. It was January, and my school had just gotten back from winter break. The prospect of some foreign virus halfway across the world personally affecting me seemed so unlikely.

For the next few weeks, life continued as normal. The virus seemed to be contained to China, Europe at the very least. Amid the sports practices, basketball games, homework and tests, coronavirus seldom entered my mind.

Every morning, I checked in on the new headlines from the past night. During the beginning of this outbreak, I remember seeing more and more articles about coronavirus. Each day, the number of cases seemed to double. Eventually, the first case was confirmed in the United States in the state of Washington. Still, the prospect of it ever spreading nearly 3,000 miles to me and the people I know seemed so far-fetched.

Less than a month later, life could not be more different for us teens. Schools closed, leaving us isolated from friends and faced with the prospect of finishing the school year online. Everything except nonessential businesses is shut down. The entire world seems to be in isolation.

While texting a friend, we discussed what we missed about going to school. Granted, all of us teens could use a break from our 6 a.m. alarms and heavy loads of homework. But many of us find ourselves missing things that seemed so mundane and ordinary, like eating lunch with our friends in the cafeteria or having sports practices after school. Thinking back to three weeks ago, it seemed as if everyone were eager to leave. But now, many of us just want to return to normal life. You never know how much you appreciate something until it’s taken away.

Not all of us teens are fortunate enough to be able stay home and self-isolate. Leaving the safety of home for medical, professional or healthcare services is a reality for many teenagers and adults. We can end coronavirus far more effectively by working together than we can by ignoring guidelines and focusing on ourselves.

Like many teens, I have left my home for an “essential” business. Several days after my school closed, I had an allergist appointment which I knew I couldn’t miss. When I entered the usually crowded waiting room, I was relieved to see that all the seats were placed six feet apart. I found it almost eerie to see a room which had been unchanged for years suddenly altered by this global pandemic. The efforts were imperative, and reminded me how coronavirus is affecting nearly every aspect of our lives.

We teenagers are scared. No one can say where the world will be a week from today. Many of us are disappointed. Instead of spending the last few months of high school going to prom, attending school games and graduating with our friends, we are stuck at home.

But rather than wallowing in despair and self-pity, we can choose to be proactive. Coronavirus could be here to stay, unless we do something about it. This global crisis will not magically disappear overnight, and it is up to us to “flatten the curve.”

Protect yourself and others from coronavirus by staying home as much as possible, keeping a safe distance of at least six feet apart from others at all times, washing your hands often, and covering all your coughs. If everyone would follow these simple rules, we could slow the spread of this global virus.

Maria Proulx of Ledyard is a sophomore at Saint Bernard School.