Even in the worst of times, there is always a bright side, you just have to have the right mindset to see it. Although being stuck at home isn’t ideal, it’s a great opportunity.

Most of us are usually super busy with school and extra-curricular activities, so we don’t get a chance to try new things. Now since we must stay at home, lots of us have quite a bit of free time. It may just seem boring, but actually, there’s so much to do! You could accomplish so much right now; you just need to be motivated enough to do it. If you have the motivation, nothing is stopping you from doing something great. There are no deadlines, no prior commitments, nothing, just time to do something that you don’t normally get to do.

I have been going on lots of walks and bike rides and have done lots of baking. I’m usually super busy with dance and school, so it’s really nice to be able to go outside and not worry about the time or worry about being late for something. Also, I love baking but I don’t really get the chance to bake. I’ve tried making churros, donuts, cookies, cakes, puffed wheat squares, banana bread, zucchini bread and some other things too. Of course I miss school and seeing friends, but I’m also enjoying having time to do whatever I want.

We need to be optimistic and make the best of these unfortunate circumstances. Even though there are a lot of negative things happening right now, you can make the decision to create some positive outcomes of this situation. You wouldn’t want to look back on this time and say, ‘Oh I wish I did this,’ or ‘Oh I wish I did that.’ You need to realize that as bad as things are, you can always do something to make it a little bit better.

Author Camryn Salisbury is 13 years old and attends Grade 8 at Ottewell Junior High School