In Teen Voices of COVID19, we interview the Center for Young Women’s Health teenage Peer Leaders for insight into their unique experiences during the coronavirus pandemic.

Q: How are you staying entertained, active, healthy, and connected during social distancing?

Njoki: My friends and I group FaceTime nearly every day to stay connected… We talk about all kinds of things, send each other videos, and give each other motivation to do homework. We also recommend good movies/TV shows to watch so that we can talk about them after. With all this extra free time, I have also had the chance to try some new hobbies. I played piano for the first time in over4 years, I started to draw, and I tried some new recipes. After a week of eating whatever and whenever I wanted, I decided that I needed to stay active. I started to work out in the morning and go on runs with my brother in the afternoon. Thankfully, in these crazy and uncertain times, many companies are making their resources/apps free for everyone (for example, GymShark, DownDog, The Yoga Collective), so my mom and I recently tried yoga for the first time as a way to stay fit.

Alexis: Every day I try and walk my dog for as long as I can, while making sure I stay 6ft away from everyone else! Spending all day inside, either sitting or lying down, can make you feel lazy. I find that when I finish a walk, I come back home ready to be productive, whether it be with school work or cleaning. Another thing I do to stay entertained and sane, is write.  I know it sounds like a chore, but I found writing in a notebook about life at home would be something my future-self would enjoy reading about. I write about what I did that day or how I feel, and it lightens my quarantine mood.