Unsubmitted Draft - Subject 3 Essay (04/08)
Section 1: Subject 3 Essay
Subject 3 has been diagnosed with Anxiety and displays symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder -- she is very particular about counting down to ensure household appliances, taps and lights are off, and produces work of the highest quality.
In public, Subject 3 is a very amiable individual, and prefers to spend time with friends, usually one-on-one, to study and eat with. She is eager to play the "hero", constantly volunteering to go out of her way to aid her friends in any way possible. She furthermore enjoys physical affection, primarily in the form of hugs.
In private, Subject 3 is more easily irritable and becomes very annoyed when receiving unwanted messages from friends she is disinterested in speaking to. She can be very selective about whom she wishes to text, and prefers to engage in online calls. Subject 3 prefers to be left alone at her floor desk in the living room to call her boyfriend in the evening. She is lastly, more prone to procrastination.
These details about Subject 3 have been briefly described to serve as a "base behaviour" for her. The ways in which her personality and attitudes change later is what this report aims to document.
3. Quarantine - Steadily Declining Health
After several months of remaining at home, unable to find a job, Subject 3 begins to attend her new year at RMIT in early March. She attends face-to-face classes for two weeks, and Monday, March 16th, is the last day she spends on the city campus. All of her classes have transitioned online.
Subject 3 is disappointed that after several months at home, she has returned to study there, but remains optimistic that the nation-side lockdown will be over in several weeks. The first half of semester goes smoothly, and she completes most of her assignments on time with few extensions, only needing a day or two extra.
Because she is at home, without needing to take into account any travel time, or a job, she believes every minute must be dedicated to studying and completing her work. This gradually avalanches into an unhealthy mindset and causes her more grief than productivity in the future.
Subject 3's productivity gradually begins to slip as she sleeps later (12am) and wakes up later (9am). She becomes easily distracted, watching videos online and scrolling through Facebook. She starts to feel guilty that she has achieved less and less in her days.
The second half of semester has assignments due in quick succession of each other, and Subject 3 struggles to keep up in time. She has an academic calendar taped to her closet door and jots down her assignments and daily agendas on it. Her spirit begins to falter as she looks at it before sleeping, regretting that she becomes 1 to 2 weeks off schedule to complete assignments early and quickly. She requests full week-long extensions for a majority of her final assignments to strategically space them out.
The lack of social contact combined with her already picky nature regarding friends to speak to, and the brutal onslaught of study every day, causes Subject 3 to lose drive in her every day life. Because her studies are now online, she begins to believe her efforts are fruitless. She begins to look forward to messaging her best friend and crush, G, distracting her from her work regularly.
4. Jealousy/Desperation
In May, Subject 3's sister, K, was able to return to high school for face-to-face learning. After her school days, she would usually go on walks to see her boyfriend. This occurred when their suburb was not yet in Stage 3 lockdown, and residents could go on walks for exercise and it would have been more acceptable (in Subject 3's eyes, since she wasn't aware of the intimate partner rule) to see one's partner.
Subject 3 was starting to be proud of their stay-at-home record, so they refrained from going on walks. She cited her constant university work as a reason to not go out. Furthermore, she didn't want to contribute a solid hour when she had the possibility of using it for her study, even if she wound up procrastinating in the end.
In the last few weeks of assessments, G informs Subject 3 that he has a free week before his exams begin, and that they should meet up. Subject 3 is reluctant due to their assignments and doesn't feel as though they deserve it due to their slipping study ethic. Subject 3's boyfriend, N, notices how tempted Subject 3 is by the offer, but she won't take his suggestion. So he orders her to go and have fun. Subject 3 gives into it.
They go out on Wednesday, June 3rd. They meet during Victoria's lowest transmission rate, following the nationwide lockdown. Subject 3 is acutely aware of the social distancing guidelines. They meet at Melbourne Central station, where Subject 3 is immediately flustered by the sight of her friend. N draws a little too close and her heart rate accelerates. They step into Coles for some dental floss Subject 3 wishes to buy. The narrow aisles and need to distance from other people keep the pair close together.
Eventually, they leave and ride the escalators to Milligram, a store with deluxe stationary and fountain pen ink, which Subject 3 adores. The store is closed however, and the pair decide to visit Dymocks. They begin to walk before Subject 3's desperation for physical contact takes over and she asks for a hug. She deems it relatively safe thanks to there being less people around. They embrace each other happily, Subject 3 appearing visibly recharged afterwards.
The pair begin their journey throughout the city, stopping at various stops on the way, such as Lush. They arrive at Dymocks and begin a dérive around the book store, checking out the books and gift wares on display. From a distance, they almost appear like a couple.
Unbeknownst to G, this is exactly Subject 3's thought process. Born out of a jealousy, perhaps envy of K's outings with her boyfriend, plus the fact that Subject 3's own partner is several states away, Subject 3 treats G as a "boyfriend for a day". Much of her behaviour can be described as flirtatious, but more so in the clingy, infatuated puppy type sense.
At lunchtime, they return to Melbourne Central to buy lunch. Subject 3 buys an Oporto meal, which is given to her in a paper bag for easy carrying. Subject 3 asks G to put his curry rice in with her meal to keep them warm. He does so, and then tries to take the bag from her. She stops him, and then says, "If you hold my hand, I'll give you the bag." He complies and reaches for it again, only for Subject 3 to hold it out of reach. She grins as they walk together to the State Library front lawn to eat their lunch.
The day turns cloudy and windy, and the pair huddle together to keep warm. Eventually, they get bored of their surroundings and ride the nearby tram to Flagstaff Gardens, where they cuddle and talk on a bench. Back at the lawn, Subject 3 had asked to kiss G, but was too embarrassed to. Upon trying again to at the Gardens, G begs her not to do it in the end and she awkwardly obliges.
He becomes aware of Subject 3's crush once she [REDACTED], and admits while he had some attraction to her, G ultimately wants to keep Subject 3's relationship with N intact. Subject 3 understands.
Nevertheless, they walk holding hands to Flagstaff Station and exchange a longing embrace. Surprisingly, it is G who holds her for longer, responding to Subject 3's embarrassed confusion with the fact that he was going to miss her, knowing they wouldn't be able to meet for a while. They separate.
Subject 3 following this is very happy and her attitude has gotten much better. She states she has been recharged by all the physical affection of the day, which is enough to last for her to complete her assignments readily. Two weeks later, she has finished her assignments, and has 3 outings planned for the week starting June 22nd.
Subject 3 tends to get extremely excited by outings and becomes very disappointed when they are cancelled. This is precisely what occurred for two of the events. The final, visiting G in his home suburb, Subject 3 cancelled herself due to the newly rising Victoria transmission rate, sitting about 40 on Friday, the 26th.
On June 30th, Subject 3's suburb was included among the 10 post codes that went into lockdown. On July 9th, the rest of Metropolitan Melbourne and Mitchell Shire joined them.
5. Envy / Touch-Starvation
Little else occurs for much of July until the 25th, when Subject 3 discovers K is planning to invite her boyfriend over to their household for her birthday. Subject 3 immediately begins to worry about the financial consequences, however doesn't realise that intimate partners can still visit each other during the lockdown.
Subject 3 tends to harbour jealous and envious feelings towards K, with a particular point of contention being that K's boyfriend lives close by. Furthermore, Subject 3 never partook in extra-curricular activities that would either require her presence outside of school hours, or need any payment such as music lessons, so as to not inconvenience her family who already live in a financially tight situation. Subject 3 has looked on in spite and rage as K undertakes music lessons, declare to their parents she has a boyfriend, and carry out other smaller teenage acts of rebellion Subject 3 was too afraid to do.
Normally, Subject 3 rants about her issues with her secret boyfriend N, however this time, because of the potential financial consequences, decides to write a letter. She chooses the non-verbal path as she can be easily intimidated and is afraid she might say words she won't mean that will shatter the relationship she has with K.
In this letter, Subject 3 calls K impulsive, inconsiderate and selfish. She calls upon her sibling to convince her boyfriend not to come over, and to do the right thing as Daniel Andrews has encouraged all young Victorians to do. She slips the letter under their bedroom door, where K resides during the day. K reads the letter, and proceeds to not speak to Subject 3 for several days, leading up to August 1st.
In the week's span then, Subject 3 develops a deep desperation for touch. Several times over the week, she puts on a jacket, thinking the crawly feeling over her skin is a sign of the cold. It is actually her body's senses tingling.
Aside from her single day out with G and several doctor trips, Subject 3 has not seen her friends in person for several months. In 2019, Subject 3 yearned for at least a single hug a day, which usually at least came from her mother. But like a child who has grown weary of eating the same food every day, this every day dose of physical affection from her mother gradually has little effect on her mood.
When attempting to fall asleep, Subject 3 spends several minutes fantasising about human contact, taking her even longer to fall asleep. It appears she's suffering withdrawal symptoms for the social contact humans normally take for granted in their day to day lives, prior to COVID.
Subject 3 is envious when listening to her boyfriend, N, talk about [REDACTED]. N understands to some extent, Subject 3's loneliness, but it doesn't make her feel any better.
August 1st comes and Subject 3 hides away in her room, letting her sister be with her boyfriend in the living room. Subject 3 finds it difficult to focus.
To top things off, on the following day, a state of disaster was announced in Victoria effective at 6pm that day. Melbourne had to move into stage 4 restrictions for 6 weeks.
6. Predictions / Likely Outcome
Over the course of several months, Subject 3 has transformed into a clingy, antsy, frustrated procrastinator who starts to prefer losing herself in reading manga and watching Youtube videos than do her studies. Miraculously, she has been consistent with keeping up decent hygiene, and plays the newly released Pokémon Smile when brushing her teeth. She still remains a positive contributor in her online uni classes for semester 2, however this is likely to keep up her optimistic public persona.
Subject 3 will undoubtedly find it difficult to keep up said social distancing restrictions once lockdown measures are eased in Victoria, likely opting for at least a single hug in a meet up. She will furthermore meet with G at the first chance she gets.
Over time, as the world enters a new COVID-Normal where Subject 3 is able to return to her usual routine of travelling into the city for university and studying with her friends in the library, she will become like her past self again. She might ask her friends to sustain longer hugs, so as to make up for "lost time" and to never take them for granted again. She might feel encouraged to go out walking with her friends as well, during the holidays.
7. Conclusion
At the time of writing this report, August 5th, Victoria has just begun the stage 4 restrictions, which are planned to end at the end of semester 2, several weeks past Subject 3's birthday. IF lockdowns continue, Subject 3's health will slip, at least, at a steady rate, now that she knows how it has felt before in the first lockdown. The future is yet uncertain. But may Subject 3 receive all that she deserves and more soon enough.
Please.
Section 2: Personal Timeline
I didn't record any of the sources I had used since this was meant to be a purely personal aid, but I can at least confirm a few:
Dunstan, J & Murray-Atfield, Y 2020, 'Melbourne placed under stage 4 coronavirus lockdown, stage 3 for rest of Victoria as state of disaster declared', ABC News, 2 August, viewed 4 August 2020, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-02/victoria-coronavirus-restrictions-imposed-death-toll-cases-rise/12515914>.
Handley, E 2020, 'From Wuhan to Australia: A timeline of key events in the spread of the deadly coronavirus', ABC News, 29 January, viewed 4 August 2020, <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-29/coronavirus-timeline-from-wuhan-china-to-global-crisis/11903298?nw=0&pfmredir=sm>.
Wikipedia Contributors 2020, COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, Wikipedia, viewed 4 August 2020, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_in_Australia>.
Comments
Post a Comment