The stay at home order is undeniably making everyone go crazy, but it is important to remember that being safe at home is the better of two evils. The Royal Purple is here to help you survive this crazy time at home.

Students like Andy Dominguez and Dulce Lopez have had to adjust to this new order. Their first method of surviving is to keep a positive outlook.

“Life is a lot different now than it was a month ago. I, as well as other students, have transitioned to online classes and it’s not an easy transition. Apart from that, I can’t go out to many stores or even go to church anymore. Staying at home is more enjoyable when you can spend more time with family, learn lots of things online and spend time on hobbies now that there’s a lot more free time,” said Dominguez.

A couple of hobbies that can be picked up during this time are learning to cook new recipes or try cooking for beginners. PureWow has a list of 32 Easy Dinner Recipes for Beginners to cook up for your next meal. There is nothing more rewarding than enjoying a meal that you made. Go ahead and have some fun with it too. A fun spin on family dinners can be a themed dinner and even themed dress codes.

Of course, it is important not to eat out of pure boredom. Frequent exercise is also important, and you now have the time that you always said you didn’t. It does not have to be an intense sweaty workout, walking does the trick too and gives a change of scenery during these days that can feel repetitive.

Some other fun and more leisurely things to do with the family, or whoever you may be living with, are board games, movie nights, starting a new television series or getting in on the TikTok dances. Don’t deny it, they’re fun and what else do you really have going on?

“I usually don’t come home very often because I am two and a half hours away when I’m back at Oshkosh, so spending time with my sisters and my parents is really refreshing. That’s what I was missing when I was back at school,” said Lopez.

Although fun times are essential to maintaining sanity, it is also a good idea to be productive. It is the best time to get started on some spring cleaning. Going as far as reorganizing your room or remodeling around the house is also a good project to do during this time. Valeria Perez is one of those people taking advantage of this time.

“I planned to remodel my room for a while now but with the stay-at-home order, it just made me actually do it. I kept saying ‘I’ll go buy paint this week’. I had been saying that since December. I think a stay-at-home order made me think, well what excuse do I have now? So I did it!”

For the students of Whitewater, it is also a good time to apply for scholarships. Put time aside to invest in your future. Apply for that scholarship, put more detail in those essays or that extra hour into studying. There are only a few weeks left of the semester, give it all you got!