QUARANTINE: Diary of a senior student-athlete (Journal entry No. 2)

This past weekend, ON THE BLOG started to share the story of Western Wayne senior Trina Barcarola.

Trina Barcarola won two PIAA Class 2A gold medals last season in the pole vault and the 100-meter hurdles.

Last year’s Times-Tribune Female Athlete of the Year is home, like all of the student-athletes in the state and across the country, as the coronavirus pandemic stymies the world. Her senior year is on hold and there is a lot going through the minds of the young people who we cover on a normal basis at the newspaper.

We asked her to write a journal to chronicle her days. Readers shared her first post more than 500 times in a day.

This is not only about seasons lost, it’s about the isolation of a mandated stay at home order issued by Gov. Tom Wolf in the days following Barcarola’s last journal entry. It’s about the class time and memories with friends, ones these kids can never get back. And it is about maintaining a hope that some day they can enjoy a sense of normalcy. Albeit a new normal.

Part of Barcarola’s days are spent balancing the mental and physical strain of a daily routine. She is doing everything to keep herself from falling into the darkness of despair as with each passing day the threat of losing her final high school season of track and field competition becomes more of a reality.

Here is her second journal entry in this series:

Monday I woke up at 7:30 a.m. and participated in Clare Schiller’s online Pietra
Fitness class. Ha ha very early, but it helps initiate the momentum of the day! I love
being able to continue these classes because it really targets my body in gentle
muscle strengthening and stretching and also calms my mind to pray with a
grateful and humble heart.

I got to play scrabble with my family and it was so fun. It feels so weird to actually
be able to have this quality time with them as I am usually scrounging to find it
during a typical school week. Having the ability to frequently hang out with them
has actually been fun, relieving, and enlightening. I’ve learned so much about my
siblings and how well we flow when doing our chores and even how we all are
willing to do a little extra to help my mom out. Granted, nothing is perfect, we
have many moments of cabin fever which creates the perfect environment for
turbulent fights and the ‘oh so fun’ blaming games. Nevertheless as a whole we
are surviving (dare I say thriving) fairly well.

Some ways to cope with the stress include taking care of the clutter is various parts of my house and reading
enriching books. It feels really good not only to get rid of the mass amount of
things I do not need but also knowing that donating them could help many people
that are in need. A double positive!
I just finished a book and plan on reading Napolean Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich”
which teaches Andrew Carnegie’s formula for making money based on the
thirteen steps to accumulate wealth. My cousin Lenny Maiocco who is a very
inspiring example of a self-motivated and disciplined person actually suggested
this book to me. … so I mean. … why not?

Regarding staying in shape, I’ve been using my living room and driveway as the
main workout areas LOL. I’ve been focusing a lot on maintaining core strength
through running ab circuits (when I say running I mean running in place because it
was raining which practically makes the whole house shake #love) and Peloton
ab circuits with Lenny through face time. I do hurdle mobility against any flat,
sturdy wall I can find along with “box” step-ups on a large flat rock at the top of my
driveway while holding a brick I found in my yard. Since my access to actual
weights is limited, body weight exercises have served as my weight room lift
workouts. Shin strengthening, proper warm-ups, stretching, and proper food intake
are all part of my recovery and maintenance.

I feel like my biggest fear in this time has been idleness. One of my coaches
recently reminded me that everything happens for a reason. I really believe this
and that is why emotionally navigating through this time has not been too difficult.
So, with this belief, I truly try my absolute best to use my time wisely. Although
many of our hearts are presently breaking, it gives all the more reason to have
faith in a brighter future.

TRINA BARCAROLA

Western Wayne, Class of 2020