My name is Jennifer. I am 15 years old. I was born and raised in Beijing, China, until I came to Singapore last year. In my eyes, Beijing is a lively and bustling place. It is very beautiful at night.

Back to school encounter quarantine

During the Spring Festival, the teacher in the dormitory told me in advance that I would be LOA as soon as I returned to school. I was on the same flight with ten other students returning to World United College in Singapore. After getting off the plane, we went directly to a hotel, and some of our daily necessities left at United College of the World could only be taken out by other students.

Personal experience in quarantine

We boys and girls are in the same hotel, on the same floor. In the hotel, there will be teachers from the school dormitory every day. They would take shifts, pick up our phones at night and knock on our doors at any time of the day to see how we were doing.

The teacher encouraged us to visit as little as possible, but sometimes we studied together in the public area of the hotel, where we could see each other, and sometimes we bought meals together because the school didn't provide us with three meals. I don't even think that's isolation. Although we are in isolation, but I have not been very worried, nervous.

In the hotel, we were free and spent most of our time watching TV and chatting with friends. Some teachers send us study materials and ask us to attend classes remotely, but some teachers do not. They may have forgotten us, so we have less time to study. Many of you, even if you're in a distance class, are actually watching the video, not listening. The teachers in the hotel are only responsible for our daily life, so they don't teach or manage our study.

Although life here is very free, it is quite boring and we have to make up for all the work we have missed when we go back to school, so we all look forward to going back to school very much.

The sudden fever brought on a panic

On the last day of the isolation with other students, the teacher asked me to stay in a very cold air-conditioned room, because the air conditioning of the hotel room was central air conditioning, so it was impossible to adjust the temperature of only one room. I've been studying in that room.

My temperature was 37 degrees 4. After a day in the air-conditioned room, it was 37 degrees 8 at night. After I had a fever, the teacher in the dormitory gave me the advice not to drink more hot water and apply a warm towel to my forehead, but to take a cold shower, thinking that this could cure a fever. This makes me very puzzled and speechless.

After I had a fever, my teacher took me to the Singapore Epidemic Detection Center by taxi at about 7:30 PM. It's almost unbelievable that just an hour ago I was just a little cold and now I have to be tested for coronavirus!

There are about 30 to 40 people of all ethnic groups waiting to be tested at the epidemic testing center. Medical staff are fully armed in plastic protective suits. The atmosphere of the scene made me feel inexplicable terror, the teacher is also more cautious and vigilant.

In the process of queuing, I learned that the detected results were divided into low, middle and three levels, which were ranked according to the possibility of a person being infected. Some people have been tested and I see a lot of people who have been rated high. I was so scared inside that I thought I was surrounded by infected people. When I got into the room, the doctor x-rayed me and all sorts of other tests. Finally, the tests came back -- negative.

Another 14 days of quarantine and grievance

Two hours later, the tests were done, and we returned to the hotel. Everyone was happy, but I was told by my dorm teacher that I would be quarantined for 14 days. The dorm teachers weren't really worried that I actually had COVID-19.

I think I did it just in case and to follow the policy of the Singapore government. I knew all along that I didn't have COVID-19, that I had a cold and a fever, and I felt speechless. Except me, the other students are not sick, all went back to school. I felt unlucky, and I thought the teacher was really annoying. I was angry with my teacher because my temperature wasn't that high and I ended up with a high fever in the cold shower and the air-conditioned room.

For the next fourteen days, because I was the only person isolated, the dormitory teacher had to go back to school to take care of other students, so I packed up, left the hotel, and was sent to a host family. This is an American family. The American couple have two children, one studying here in Singapore and the other in the United States.

I stayed in the same room all the time, but I still had some contact with the three of them. The American family was so welcoming that they brought me food every day and often asked if I needed anything. They had no qualms about me and were not afraid that I might infect them. After all, my tests were negative.

Without the company of my friends, I watch videos by myself every day and sometimes study. I never went back to the somewhat scary outbreak testing center, because I was fine -- my fever was gone, I was sleeping well, and I was alone for 14 days.

After 14 days of isolation, I finally returned to the dormitory and saw my roommate after a long separation. I will never forget this experience.

Finally back in the dormitory, she drank a cup of mocha and sat down beside her roommates. The three of them watched their favorite YouTube channel.