Swine flu: Diary of a student in limbo

Jaimee Berkahn. Photo / Supplied

Rangitoto College student Jaimee Berkahn, 16, returned from the trip of a lifetime only to be locked in quarantine. Here she documents how television alleviated the boredom inside and how cold symptoms delayed her much anticipated return to school.

Wednesday, April 29: Today is our last day of quarantine. Tomorrow morning we will have hit 72 hours of taking Tamiflu and the nurses have said we can go about our lives normally after that.

During this quarantine time I have watched more television than I have ever watched in my life and I have read and done school work and am running out of things to do so freedom tomorrow couldn't come sooner!

I still have my cough which has reared up again slightly so maybe Mum and I will postpone our return to the real world until it has gone completely.

Thursday, April 30: Technically today, we are free from home detention! As I am still displaying signs of a cold we have decided to lay low until they have subsided, pushing my return to school until Monday.

To celebrate freedom and the all-clear, Mum and I took a trip, with snack, to the nearest park to have some morning tea and a stroll in the fresh air.

I heard today, through an email, that I received three awards at the prizegiving this morning. I look forward to finding out what they are for when I return to school. Mum and I are both looking forward to my brother, Richard, coming over for a reunion and for dinner tonight.