4/3/20 Nafi Osmani PD1

• What is it like working from home?
• What are the updates around the world/community regarding the virus?
• Your own personal feelings and thoughts about what is happening right now.

Nafi Osmani Blog 4/3/20

1.  The president of the United States and the governors from all fifty states are working together on what they should all do when reopening their societies/ reopening all the aspects of their states before the coronavirus. Recently, it was announced florida beaches have been opened, and other countries like Germany are making moves to reopen more parts of their societies, such as public shops. I feel that of course, people want their lives to return to normal, they want to do things they were able to do, but as President Trump said “We get one chance to get it right”. We need to be especially careful of what we as communities, cities, states, and as a country do in the next few months in this fight against the coronavirus, if we’re not careful we could end up creating a surge of coronavirus cases. It sucks, but I understand why all the restrictions have been put in place, and understand that this situation is only temporary, it will soon be in all our rear view mirrors.

2. Recently it was announced that NYC schools will be closed for the rest of the year. It seems that we will be using remote learning in the future until there's any further notice, the actual learning of content is not bad, and I actually prefer being able to go at my pace/speed going through assignments; what’s not great about this situation is all the events for seniors like prom, graduation, senior day, etc, that right now looks like we’re going to miss. 

3.  If it weren't for Quarantine, I didn't have any special plans, but I had planned to continue working for a professor at the College of Staten Island. Additionally, a lot of my time was going to be spent working on the solar car team during this break, preparing for our competition in the summer that recently got canceled. After over a month being in quarantine, one thing that I necessarily didn’t take for granted but now appreciate greatly is having a safe roof above my head and a meal every day. One of the things that I especially miss and have taken for granted, and can no longer do due to the coronavirus, is freedom to do things, especially driving. I would take for granted driving across the hill on Todt Hill Road and being able to take in the view of the rest of Staten Island and across to New Jersey. Coming home from school some days, driving down Todt Hill Road, I would be able to catch the sight of the sun setting on the horizon, it was a beautiful sight to see for a couple of seconds after a long day of school, and then the horns of cars ahead would put me back into being one of the thousands of drivers on the roads in NYC. I miss being able to drive along that 1.5 mile stretch of road into Gateway National Park off of Hylan Blvd. and taking a stop off the road to fish. The small things, that I was used to doing, the things that used to be a part of my daily and weekly routine, are the things that I especially miss; I realize now that I have taken them for granted, when I am longer able to do any of these things, and can only experience them from what I can recollect from personal memory.