Charles “Hank” Harrison

This year…I was able to turkey hunt anytime I wanted to….In Illinois, you only have seasons that run roughly a week, so a lot of times, I would not take a day off through the week, or I would have to take a Friday off to hunt. Since we were off, I was able to go as soon as I got my schoolwork done, or if there was a day where I didn’t have a lot to do, I could go. That was one benefit, and the other benefit in conjunction with that [is] with my daughter being off, she was able to go with me a lot, which was a lot of fun.

I like to think of myself as a pretty disciplined person; I get my work done–both school and personal–and then, do fun stuff. I always preach, ‘Sunday to Thursday are work days, and Friday and Saturday you go have fun.’ …For example, this morning, I got up, got some schoolwork done, worked out, ran to school for a recycling run, …came back home, checked some emails, and now, for the last hour, I’ve been power-washing my deck. [These are] things I couldn’t do on a Thursday if we were in school….Considering the classes I teach are really hands-on, and you need to be there with the students…in that respect, I need to be at school in order to teach Airbrush or Drafting….I would rather be at school for the most part. Getting to see my daughter and son at home a lot more was definitely a benefit….It’s been a blessing in disguise.

[My wife’s] not a frontline nurse; she works at a pediatrician’s office, but they still have to go through all the protocols….They wear masks, and she washes her hands all the time, anyway, so I [don’t] have much concern. If she was in a different setting, where she was at the hospital dealing with patients that actually had [corona,] or [she] had a higher potential of being exposed, then I would’ve been more nervous.