Over the last couple of months, we’ve all needed some sort of outlet. Being stuck in the house for a long period of time was challenging for me to say the least. While I’ve definitely spent hours binge watching Netflix or scrolling through social media, eventually the screen time became too much for me. After those first few weeks, where I spent my day staring at a screen, I decided to bake brownies. I looked up a recipe online, put on some music, and started baking. Although that first batch of brownies that night were far from perfect, it was really enjoyable for me to make them.

After that one night, I kept baking more and more desserts. I found it extremely relaxing and fun to look up recipes and find something new to make. One of the first recipes I found was for pumpkin cupcakes, which quickly became one of my favorites. When I started baking in the first few months of the pandemic, there was not much going on in my life. However, as I started off my senior year, I had a hard time finding a balance between filling out college applications and settling into my new online classes. At first, it felt like there was no time for anything enjoyable in the day. After those first few weeks, I knew I needed to find the time to do something other than homework, applications, and working, so I baked a batch of my pumpkin cupcakes. Months later, and I’m still definitely not a master chef, but baking gives me a huge release from being on my computer all day. It’s almost become routine for me at night to find a new recipe and get to my baking. No matter how stressful or frustrating my day seems, I now always have something to look forward to doing.

Additionally, I’ve even been able to make some muffins and brownies for friends and family. For example, when one of my close friends had a bad day, I made her favorite cupcakes and dropped them off at her doorstep. She was really happy, and it made her day a little better. Baking has given me that extra way to connect to people, especially at a time when we might not be physically together. Overall, I know that I’m not a master baker, but I still love learning and it’s given me a release in a time of anxiety and stress.