As many Canadians leaned into their hobbies as sources of entertainment, some discovered they wanted to make businesses out of these interests. However, other Canadians needed another source of income to supplement their main jobs as COVID-19 added a degree of economic instability during the pandemic. This article serves to illustrate how Canadians formed side businesses out of these hobbies, either due to economic uncertainty, or because they desired to do what they genuinely loved.

With the enforced lockdown this past March, Canadians had extra time on their hands and tried new hobbies such as painting, drawing, and ceramics. Even in the fall, citizens are still exploring new interests in their free time that they can either do at home or in a socially distanced manner.

Since the graduation has been canceled due to COVID-19, the graduation package had to be shipped to students and let us keep it until it is safe to hold the actual ceremony on campus. I received mine on Dec. 1st, the ceremony was supposed to be hold on Dec. 12 online. I don’t know if the ceremony will be hold in the near future, but I believe that it won’t be what we’ve imagined it. I won’t be able to see all my friends together again, some of us graduated and went to other countries because of the unfriendly policy to international students, and I don’t even know if I will ever see them again.

The most memorable story that I have curated was an email by the president of Washington and Lee University. In the email, President William Dudley announced that the on-campus classes will be suspended for the rest of the semester and instructions will be shifted to an online model. Students affairs, competitions, performances, and graduation ceremonies had to be canceled to ensure students’ safety. Before the pandemic, he would watch students and faculties walking to classrooms as he walked to work every morning, he would pass by and see sports teams practicing in the field in the afternoon, and now everything was gone. For graduating seniors, he expressed his sorry for what they will miss. Although professors were trying their best to learn new technologies and most of the students' events will be online, nothing will be the same. What aches me the most is a sentence from President Dudley’s email, “In June, a campus without students is peaceful. In March, it is eerie and sad.” I could not help but imagine what it is like at University of San Francisco. Is it like a ghost town? Every time I think about it, I regret that I did not look at it for the last time. I remember the last time when I was on campus, it was the day before spring break, and I walked out of theology class with my friend. We were discussing what we should do during the spring break. We had to cancel our plans to travel to Hawaii because of the pandemic. Although the U.S has not taken any precautions at that time, we learned from the news that there were several confirmed cases in travelers who have recently been to Hawaii. After debating and hesitating for days, eventually, we decided to cancel the trip although the flight tickets were non-refundable because we did not want to take the risk of exposing ourselves to the virus. Every Chinese student I knew made the same decision. What happened to our home country made us realize how harmful this virus could be. On the way walking out of the campus, I was texting and discussing should we stock some disinfectant and stay at home for the whole spring break with my friend, I could never imagine that it was the last time I walked on campus and saw USF. It hurts my heart when I try to remember what it was like to walk on campus, how the St. Ignatius Church would shine under the sunset; I hate myself for not looking at everything for the one last time because I was busy texting. Shortly, USF announced online classes for the rest of the semester and I returned to China within weeks. When the fall 2020 semester was announced to be online, I first made the decision to take a gap semester because I want to spend my last semester with friends, and most importantly, to celebrate the graduation ceremony with my friends and family on campus. However, with the U.S. government putting visa restrictions on Chinese and the conflict between the U.S and China getting more serious, I began to fear that if I do not complete my degree now, there could be a possibility that I never would. Yesterday, I finished my last class in college life and my virtual graduation ceremony is only days away. I envy those seniors who graduated before me, they had a chance to celebrate with families and friends, they had a chance to say goodbye to their college life; I envy those who will graduate in the following years, they will have the chance to celebrate their graduation ceremony on campus. Everything that has ever happened in the past months seems like a dream. Only if I know how to end this dream.

There is four new confirmed cases in Chengdu, China and the source of this outbreak has not been confirmed. All patients have been admitted to hospital and receiving treatments now. Sadly, there was a girl who did not know she was positive and she went to bars, restaurants, hair salons, etc. and these places had to be temporarily closed to be disinfected and trace the closed contacts. The girl was being cyber bullied by many because she was spreading the virus even she did not know she was confirmed, this has lead to a social conflict with many people defending her and many cursing her.

It is almost Easter and my family usually gather together at a park and do a big egg hunt except this year was going to be a little different due to the pandemic. We all had to stay at our homes since there can't be any large gatherings. This was when I started thinking that all of our family gatherings were going to have to be canceled. And up to this day Dec.11 of 2020 it looks like it is going to be canceled. It has been a long time since I have not spend time with family because we are trying to keep each other safe.

I took a flight today for the first time in 9 months home to Colorado. My protection was a mask and a face shield, but this person I saw had a full suit of protection on. The flight I was on turned out to be full, and almost every row had all three passengers filled. I was not expecting this, and it was incredibly anxiety provoking. Nevertheless, I made it home to my family and I will wait to see my grandma and friends until I get tested.

I heard about a virus out break in China from the news and I heard it was speeding to different countries but it was 2 weeks later when I found out it was in our state. I heard it wasn't bad to kids so I wasn't worried. later that week my school announced that we were going to do virtual school. it wasn't that different after that the only thing was different was school I still went skating at the park in my community, surfing at the beach outside my house and went mountain biking in the Mountains behind my house. covid isn't that bad I just don't get so see my friends that don't live in my community.

At the beginning of 2020, COVID-19 was nothing but a distant problem. Something to pitty other countries for having. Then one day, we found out that the Corona Virus was here, amoungst us in the United States, even in our own local comunity. When that happened I was very worried because my mom was going to a club with some people whom originally came from China to the US. My entire family was wonderig if we were safe. My parents were on the verge of taking me out of school right when the schools shut down for good. After that happened my family shut ourselves off from the world, we weren't allowed to see even our neighbors or our closest friends. I was racing mountain bikes competitively for the Newbury Park Mountain Bike Team, and at the time that was my only form of interraction what so ever. When that shut down, I didn't know what to do. I was so bored! We stayed in isolation for another month and a halfe. We decided to pass the time by build big mountain bike jumps in our backyard, but even that got old after a while. Then, finally, we were allowed to go outside of our house/backyard. The first thing we did was go reconnect with our friends whom are all mountain bikers. We were all just getting back in to it, but things were relaxing little by little. Untill things finally started to open back up. As soon as Mammoth opened we rushed up there for a week. The mountain bike park was crazy. There was almost nobody there, and we were required to load our own bikes and had to keep masks on the whole time. We loved it so much that we came back just 3 weeks later. The second time things were a little more relaxed. We were still required to wear a mask in line, but not while riding. We were aslo not required to load our own bikes. After that we came back home. We only had a few days untill school was going to go back online. When school started everything was pretty similar to last year when we were on ZOOM. I was fine untill the end of November when Thanks Giving happened and there were lots of people traveling. COVID-19 started to spike again and my family started to take things more seriously. Up untill this point when i am writing this, nothing has chaged from then. I'm hoping this will all be over soon.

This is a photo of my teammates and me on the bench cheering on our teammates, but as you can see, we're all wearing mask. We have never had to do anything like that ever before and its all just a new and weird precess that is taking some getting used to. Wearing these mask are kind of a hassle for us athletes especially during a game because its very hard to get air through them when youre tired, but we all know that its for the greater good of the world.

During my thanksgiving, I couldn't see any of my outside family which sucked. But I got toes thereafter but I had to wear a mask. I don't have any pictures but an example would be like a simple trip to target is so hard because of prices being raised and having to wear a mask

At the start of February, life was perfectly normal. We went out somewhere fun every week, and had a lot of laughs. We visited my grandparents very often, and played with their dogs a lot. We even went shopping all together as a family. I had no idea what COVID-19 was, and the first time I heard about it was when my friend texted about it randomly. I wondered what he was talking about, but didn’t pay too much attention to it at the time. Suddenly, my way of life changed. Going outside was dangerous. Hand sanitizers were worth their weight in gold, and stores having stock was a thing of the past. My life would never be the same.

In February, life was as normal as ever. I had no idea how much my entire world would change in just a few weeks. I was hugging my friends and sharing food, taking the bus to school and spending my weekends at the mall, not a care or fear in my mind. Then, in early March, that all changed as my city went into lockdown. I was terrified that there were 26 cases of Coronavirus in my county, which is nothing compared to the almost 8,000 cases a day we are facing now. I don't know if this is the halfway point, or just the beginning, but I sure hope life can be like it was in February again soon.

Having a baby is always a joyful, if not stressful, time, and having a baby in the middle of a global pandemic simply amplifies both of these emotions. My son was born on September 30, 2020, which means we found out about the pregnancy at the same time we found out about the COVID-19 global pandemic. Going through the initial lockdown, all of the information and misinformation, while knowing that we had a baby on the way made everything that much scarier. The joyful part came when he was born, a couple of weeks early, but a totally healthy baby boy. The joy of a new baby joining the family allowed us to take a break from the daily grind of living through a pandemic. And while no one was able to visit at the hospital, or meet him until quarantining for 14 days, and all had to hold him while wearing a mask, the joy definitely outweighed the stress. Our covid baby, and the journey to him joining our family, will be a bright spot in our family in an otherwise very dark year.

Usually for thanksgiving my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandma come to our house. My grandma has lived by my house since I was born until about 4 years ago, when she moved back to Israel. She is an essential part of our thanksgiving, she helps out with the cooking a lot and is an important family member. This year, she was not able to come because COVID could not let her get a flight to our city. It was very sad because we would miss her and we had to do a lot more cooking, which was stressful. However, I know it is for good because we are keeping eachother safe.

When I heard that the disease COVID19 had entered California I never thought that it would be as bad as this. Wherever we go we have to wear a mask, and we can rarely see other people because we are frightened that we might catch this horrible disease. The first time I heard of it was when my friends called me and they said that their school was being shut down. This disease was spreading like wildfire. My school had not shut down yet but my parents started getting very worried. They started having me bring disinfectant wipes to wipe down my desk each time I entered a new classroom. Then came the day that we had to go on lockdown. I told myself that it was going to get better and I would be able to see my friends again, but soon after zoom started, the school year was over, and here I am nearing Christmas in 2020. At home still in quarantine. I hope it gets better soon.

My Thanksgiving wasn’t the same as all the other ones because my typical Thanksgiving is with my grandparents, cousins, uncles, and aunts. Since there is a global pandemic, we had to keep it small. So we had a small Thanksgiving with just my two sisters and my parents. My grandparents did stop by, but only for twenty minutes and we had to stay six feet apart. I didn’t have to get all dressed up, or even change out of the clothes I woke up in. My family didn’t even have a turkey this year! In February, there was no such thing as Corona. You didn’t have to wear a mask or social distance. I went to my friend’s houses and hung out in big groups. I was going to school every day and visiting my grandparents once a week. Around this time there were rumors that Covid was going to come to America and that maybe our schools would close but I never believed it. When I would hear about Corona I never ever thought that some of my loved ones would end up getting it. When people starting saying that our schools might close I was excited to have a shot break off of school, but little did I know it would be a nine month break. In February, I was careless and didn’t have to worry about washing my hands or staying six feet apart.

My roommate keep going out and seeing other people even tho the US is in its worst right now, so I and my other roommate came together and said he had to change the way he was dealing with the pandemic, he didn't, so I had to move out in the middle of the semester, because I am in a risk group, due to the medicine a take (it lowers my immune system).

One week after being sworn in as New Hampshire's newest House Speaker, the 71-year-old House Speaker died due to COVID-19 complications. Per the governors request, all flags were lowered to half-mast.

I have epilepsy and I take medicine for it, this medicine lowers my immune system, so I am considered a group of risk for convid, my life got very limited because of that, also because of my seizures I can't have a drivers license, so I was the only one in my family that couldn't get out for the small chance I would catch convid in the uber passenger seat, or in my way to the tabaco store, I stayed 5 months in my house without being able to go outside. The depression was horrible, but when things got a little better I could TAKE MY DOG FOR A WALK.

I am a Brazilian doing college in the US. When the Convid-19 got to brazil and the US, around mid-march I decided to go back to Brazil, my college made the decision to finish the semester online and I and my family thought was better for me to quarantine there than in the US. During this time the US decided to close the borders for non-USA citizens coming from Brazil, so when the time came for me to come back I had to stay 15 days in Portugal in order to be MAYBE be able to enter in the US with my student visa.

In the month of February, I was just going to school as usual and I was doing my schoolwork. I was in 7th grade before Covid-19 occurred and I was just a student at a private school. A couple of my friends were talking about this new virus and they seemed worried about it. I did not hear about this virus on the news yet, so I just thought it was already under enough control. I believed that the scientists would find a cure without delay and that there was no reason to worry. Also, I did not think that it was possible for it to spread so quickly. Soon, this virus was spreading faster than ever, and I was becoming more worried. I was afraid that it will spread in America, and I was right. I watched the news after school, and I saw that countries were shutting down and schools were closing. Then, my parents received a message about my school closing. I did not know how I felt about this and I was still in shock. After, I remembered that an indication of this virus spreading occurred to me before. It was when my friends started to discuss about this new virus way before it became a global pandemic. I should have known that life could only get worse from here. Then, the quarantine started.

New Hampshire House Speaker dies. Politicians are not immune to COVID-19.

To the February 2020 me, it was a normal day in my life. I woke up at 7 o'clock to get ready for school that started at 8 o'clock. My mom was reading something on her phone when I got downstairs to eat breakfast. She told me of this new virus that was going around in China. My heart started to drop. I had my family over there and most of them are my grandparents whose health isn't exactly in the best condition. I was worried about them, not think for a second how it could spread to the US. I got into the car with my sister who sends me to school. She got her podcast ready, the BBC World News Podcast. It was normal for her to play it in the morning when she gets ready for work. I listened along, not really focusing on what they were saying. But this podcast was a bit different than before. It talked about how there was a new outbreak of an unknown virus in Wuhan, China. I started to feel worried again. Whenever my mom told me something, I would think about it and then later forget about it. But this story was now on the BBC World News podcast which means that something is going to happen. I knew that my family lived away from Wuhan so I thought that it would be safe. I listened to the end of that story, thinking about it until I reached school. I walked up the stairs and never really thought about it again until a few weeks later. My family in China said that they had to stay inside their house and could not leave unless they needed groceries. To me, this meant that it was getting serious. But this was not the worst news I heard that week. The worst is that there is someone in the US that has the virus. I knew then that things are starting to be extremely different than before and I was not far from being right.

It was a normal day like any other. I got up, took a shower, brushed my teeth, and put on my uniform. I then headed downstairs to go eat breakfast. I got downstairs, had an egg, and then I got my backpack and got in the car. My dad dropped me off and then I had my classes. After school I heard people talking about a sickness but I kind of ignored them and proceeded down the stairs to carpool. My mom picked me up and then we headed home and I did homework and relaxed. The next day I got up did the usual and headed for school. I heard more people talking about this illness and I was kind of like. Oh well its flu season so it's probably the flu and so I cared on not expecting what would come next.

In the beginning of February I was living a really good life. I got to see friends all the time, dance with my friends, and just was learning a lot in school and life was good. Little did I know in one snap life could have changed so much. I get home from school March 12, 2020 and heard the news that School was closing for 2 weeks. I really did need the break from school and thought of it as a "long spring break". But soon it turned into more weeks than months. I hated online School at first, long zooms then right when they are done I got to work on my thousands of assignments due that day. No motivation to dance or do anything. I would lay down on my phone and procrastinate all school assignments. Finally, summer hits and some Covid laws were lifted. I got to see a few friends and go surfing everyday. This was what I loved during summer. I even got motivated to dance again. My dance studio then opened and I was off of zoom. I loved getting to dance in person again. Summer soon ended and back to the online school life. This school year has been really good because I adapted to the online education, and started to not procrastinate. Sadly, my studio got back online but it was okay with me. This thanksgiving and halloween were so weird because we had no family over and it was just not the same experience. In conclusion, this pandemic has been rough but I have learned a lot and grew in many different ways.

The item we are submitting is a reflection of society at large, something imperative as we have all been forced to self-reflect on a personal scale during this pandemic. Being forced to recharge and take a breath from the tech-fueled, on-the-go, culture we are entrenched in is a psychological challenge in and of itself. Therefore, starting a conversation as to why work is seen as a means to an end rather than as a self-fulfilling contribution to society and, consequently, something that leads to burnout is a conversation worth having before we enter into a society once again that causes severe stress and anxiety for most people. This is important because we must look at not just our personal lives, but the society we live in so that we can properly address the factors leading to major decline in the mental health of so many, as well as whether or not we want to re-commit to such a society once life returns to some sense of normalcy.

It was 2020, a new decade, a fresh start. Myself and the rest of Gen-Z all thought, "This is our time". Lots of us posted on social media all excited for new beginnings. Life was perfect. I was a seventh grader who loved to dance, and I went to my studio five times a week after school. Life was routine. I would wake up, and get ready for the day. I would shower, blow dry my hair, do my makeup, and get dressed. I was so worried about what every one thought of me, the same as many thirteen year olds are. I packed my back pack, said goodbye to my dog Rowdy-Girl, got in the car, and tool the five minute drive to a place I never looked forward to going: school. Class began at 8:05, and I made sure I was never late. I opened my locker, which was always organized, got my books, and walked into my first period class. Following my second class, I had a break for 20 minutes. My friends and I went to the cafeteria and got lots of snacks. It was nice to have some time to see friends. 3 more periods, then lunch. Each day was growing moribund and the same. 2 last periods, and we were released and so happy to go home after a long day of learning. Then I would get ready for dance, and have so much fun doing the sport that I love. Sure a few bad things happened in the early months of 2020. There was almost what people were calling "World War 3" due to conflicting views between America and Iran. A famous basketball player named Kobe Bryant. Many called him a legend and saw him as an inspiration. He sadly passed away in a terrible plane crash which involved his daughter and some of her teammates as well. However, the year was still overall alright. I got to perform in my school's dance show, I developed a live for surfing, and I felt like I was on top of the world. However a huge boulder was about to knock me down. Some virus was spreading around China, but none of us thought anything of it.

It was March 15, 2020, and everybody had been hearing about this crazy virus in China that was killing people. The first American had gotten it and brought it over. Everybody was scared. Back in February my schedule was normal. I'd wake up at 7:00 AM and get to school at 7:45 AM. I remember the morning on the 15th where we had been hearing about this virus getting serious and then when I came downstairs and my told me that the school had just sent an email that we had 2 more days of regular school and then we'd go online. They said that we would come back before the end of the year but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

My life in February was normal and pleasant. I was starting the baseball season and wrapping up basketball during this time. I remember on Valentine's Day a couple of friends and I went to the mall to hang out and have some fun. We were running around not knowing it would be the last time we would be allowed to. I mean just think about a normal 13-year-old boy's life. It was the best time of my life in 7th grade. I would hop around with my two main friend groups and talk about what teenagers talk about, sports, sleep, weekends. My friend Easton would run around on campus going up to random people and well actually you never knew what he was about to do. That's what I love about my friends, always lively and enjoying life. My normal day looked like getting up at 7 then getting to school around 8 and hustling to first period. Then after listening to people talk about math or something like that go to the next class, until we got to break. When we got to break and had just about the most intense games of basketball that you have ever seen. After a couple more classes we did the same thing at lunch. Then after like two more classes, I think, we headed on down to the locker room to get changed for baseball. We always had clean practices, little to no errors, and great hitting. Then I would pretend to do homework when I got home then I would actually do homework. Then I was in bed by 11:00. Then on March 13 we showed up to school and people were talking everywhere and the teachers met in the pod to talk some more, we didn't know what was happening so we went with the genius idea to tell everyone to go home and buy toilet paper. When I heard that a virus from a bat was spreading from China I knew something was wrong. Really? They can do better. It actually came from a lab because in China there are 1.4 billion people and because they are a communist country they don't care about their people. Also, think about it, corona only affects older people or people with respiratory problems (mostly old people). Making you think yet? Put the pieces together. Comes from a government-run lab, kills off older people, 1.4 billion people, a communist country, population control. It didn't come from a bat, you people are being lied to, there is a safe, cheap cure; hydroxychloroquine. They don't want you to know that because they want you to rely on the government. Sounds a lot like socialism. People don't think about the facts (99.92% recovery by the way), they just trust whatever they are told, whether that be through social media, TV shows, news, and other platforms. Do you know who wants to divide, break down, and control? The government and the devil. The situation we are in now is making the government look like a savior to us. Because WE (we being the government) have the vaccine, WE can flatten the curve, WE can be together by staying apart. See what I'm saying with this? They are seeing how far they can push us. No normal life before this matters until we know what's happening now. If we the people don't do something about this we will never go back to normal. I know that it was supposed to be about normal life in February but I want the facts in the history books.

My Life before COVID was simple and organized. I had a schedule of what I would do everyday. First I would get ready for the day and go to school. After school, I would get something to eat and then play basketball at the YMCA. Life was normal before COVID-19.

In January of 2020 I first heard of Corona Virus. I only jokes and memes about it on social media. All I knew was that it was a sickness being passed around in China. I really didn't take it seriously and neither did anyone else at school, but I really wish I had. In march my peers and I were informed that the virus had reached the US and even penetrated California's border. Yet still, we did not take it seriously. My teachers told us that they were being prepared to give us an online education, but that it probably would not be necessary so we were not concerned. I continued life normally. I went to school, soccer practice, I hung out with friends careless of what was going on in the world. That Friday after being informed that my teachers were being prepared to educate us online, my fellow students and I were told that school was being canceled and in the coming week we would be receiving a virtual education. The week after all we did at school was learn how we would be learning from home. I was actually a little excited because I would get to sleep in, do less work, but that excitement did not last long. Within a week I loathed online school entirely. I lost all motivation to learn and do my best. To add on to this, my family began to fight 24/7. Resentments grew among each of us. Everything was closed and we were put on lockdown, the government ordered us not to leave our home. At this time I wished for nothing more than to go back before the Pandemic.

I watched her go through the entire pregnancy from October-April and in these months, COVID-19 was introduced, declared as a pandemic, and was being researched while we all quarantined. Giving birth is never easy, and for Brittany (the mother) this was her third pregnancy, her first child being born prematurely with complications, her second a C-section, and was hoping for a more smooth experience for her third but then the pandemic happened. She feared getting sick in the hospital but also not being ready to be home and just take phone calls in case of emergencies or appointments. This is an Item of interest to future historians that helps illustrate something particularly significant about the year 2020, because it is a first-hand experience of what happened inside the hospital, before, during, and after giving birth. This will help historians better understand a mother's mindset and the regulations implemented in the hospital. This item holds a voice recorded experience that was lived in an important time in history.

My name is Athena Errico and I am an 8th grade student at Oaks Christian currently, but at the time I was in seventh grade. It was January-February, I love to ski and I have been skiing my whole life, recently I have been trying to get into racing. I had just heard of the corona outbreak in China and was instantly worried. I had my first compition coming up for skiing and my parents told me I couldnt go because it was Chinese New Year and many people from China go to that specific ski mountain every year to celebrate. A few weeks later at school I had heard about schools in the area shutting down due to corona. Then about a week later I noticed my teachers canceling quizzes and giving very little homework. At lunch many off the kids talked about corona and the group of people who went with a teacher named Mrs. Hacker to Italy over break, there where roomers they all got COVID. Then a girl was not in school and many poeple thought she had COVID. Thats when I new things where going to change. COVID! COVID! COVID! that was all anyone ever talked about. Soon my parents wouldnt let me go to the grocery stores with them and wouldn't let me go to friends houses unless they new the parents well. Then my school shut down and that's when everything got really strange.

I heard about the pandemic around March at school and I thought that it would just go away like the flu and people were overreacting about it. Then after a few weeks after I heard it I went to the store and hand sanitizer was running out and so was toilet paper. There was absolutely no toilet paper in the ailes because people got scared and started to hoard supplies thinking that the supply chain would reduce considering the virus and fewer facilities being open. Then they started putting signs on restaurants and grocery stores that wouldn't allow you to enter places without a mask. And after that Governor Newsome (the Californian Governor) put huge crazy restrictions where you can't go to some restaurants and small businesses. After this, we were told we would go home and do online classes for a month which I thought would take much longer because of how everyone described the virus and the news, and how California was shutting down everything because it is primarily a Democratic state. ( not trying to be political but most Democratic states shut down sooner than Republican states.) Which though seemed like a good idea wasn't because it hurt the economy and overall mental help of many people. Drug usage, suicides, and alcohol usage were at what feels like an all-time high and most Republican states stayed open and still had the same if not fewer cases of Covid as the Democratic states who locked down. Australia locked down as of now for about a year so far and their economy is down about 7% and ours has stayed less locked down is only down 2% thanks to president Trump for not shutting down absolutely everything. It is important to me to submit this because many people think our country should shut down and I disagree because Australia for example has lost a tremendous amount of the economy and still has near the same amount of cases, even after the long lockdown.

It's thanksgiving in November 2020 for me it's a very casual day during the lockdown. seems like Joe biden won the election, King Von dioed not too long ago, also Kobe, Chadwick Boseman and Pop Smoke died recently. My family doesn't celebrate thanksgiving but this year we decided to go to my uncle's restaurant Novikov Miami but other than that nothing was really that special. Im in miami because my dad came here for his work but my school is online so it wasn’t really a problem and im going back to California soon. I like to go to the gym daily also i play Xbox with my friends almost every day. I play games such as Fight Night Champion, GTA 5, Warzone, UFC 4, Watch Dogs Legion and 2K.

Before the pandemic, I had a typical life. I had to wake up at around 6-6:30am to be able to get to school, which was 40 or so minutes away from our house. I drove in our new Tesla with my dad who worked at Joni and Friends. I also had begun carpooling with my friend Carly. We would sit in the back seats together as we talked about a fandom that we're both in and met through. Sometimes I would draw on ibisPaintX with my iPad mini with a stylus and a glove I crocheted that goes around my wrist and only extends over my pinkie finger so that when I rest my hand on the screen it doesn't interfere with the program. Sometimes I would crochet little dolls. After school, I would either have volleyball practice, go to Carly's house, or go to my father's work and do homework, play games, or read fanfictions while he finished his work day. If I had volleyball, I would sit at the pickup place while I waited for my dad and he would come pick me up and take me home. At home, I would eat, shower, read a bit possibly, and go to bed. The fist clue I got about my life changing was the news of the quarantined ship from China. At the time, it was just another 'oh look at them, that must suck, oh well' news report but it soon escalated into 'everyone is quarantined now'

It is currently February 12, 2020. I am on the plane to go to Italy for 2 weeks on an extraordinary adventure with my friends from Oaks Christian. I land in Paris at first and I see the Eiffel tower as it is my birthday today. I couldn't have imagined my 13th birthday any better than to be in Paris. I have a great week touring all over Italy and I had np idea that my life was going to change forever. As I got to the airport in Italy to go back to California, they took my temperature and I thought it was very strange because they have never done that in the past. The security guard said because a new virus is appearing and they want to be cautious. I was kind of scared but I just looked past it. Then as we were in the airport one of the people in our group started throwing up everywhere and I got really nervous that they might have this new virus. I later realized she was fine but it was still scary. When I landed back into California, they I couldn't go to school for 2 whole weeks because the quarantined me because I was in Italy. I looked on my phone at the news and realized that Italy is surging with coronavirus cases. I ended up not have COVID-19 but it was still a time in my life I will never forget.

Compared to my life back in February, my life now is exceedingly different. I was still attending in-person school at Oaks Christian, and I had no idea how drastically my life would change. For example, back in February, I was on a track team called the "Thousand Oaks Flyers". My practices for that track team would later get cancelled in March, but back then I was having the time of my life and running with one of my best friends, Olivia. I was also participating in a swim team called Class Aquatics, which practices, or used to practice, at the Oaks Christian High School pool. I did not enjoy being on the swim team, and I would later get the courage to tell my parents that I wanted to quit. Back in February, I was always busy on the weekends and weekdays, from hanging out with my best friends, to always being at a sports practice. One sign that something was wrong, or about to be wrong, is that my parents, my dad is a surgeon and my mom is a nurse, were constantly talking about some kind of virus that was growing and spreading throughout Asia and most of Europe. When I asked them about it, they said that it was a virus that originated in China and was spreading. I initially laughed it off, and thought that I had nothing to worry about, when some relatives that live in Asia shipped my family and my grandmother packs of N-95 masks, and told us all to "be safe". Shortly after that, my first Covid-19 cases were reported in the U.S. and also in California. My parents were starting to get worried, but I wasn't until some teachers at school told me that the school might have to shut down if more Covid-19, or coronavirus cases were diagnosed. Shortly after that, in March, Oaks Christian switched to an online learning school program, and my family and I went into a "quarantine lockdown". That is what my life in February, and early March, of 2020 was like, and some events that were happening in my day-to-day life, and also all around the world.

During my COVID-19 Thanksgiving, I only gathered with people I have been in touch before. Thanksgiving that day never felt like a normal Thanksgiving, but it felt forced like we were supposed to act normal and there was not a pandemic. The restrictions for covid were not even allowing us to have family over so technically my family. During the day, I had some fun with my cousins(they live across the street) and had the weirdest Thanksgiving dinner. I could barely gather with anyone and it was very quiet-my family has already been around each other so we really had nothing to talk about much. Overall, I am hoping for change and I do hope people stay at home more to get over this pandemic so we can live we did before this whole situation.

I think that it is good to have texts that talk about the lives of people that are not so upper class as they are living through this pandemic, since that is what future historians will use and they need to be able to access more sources.

In February I knew nothing about Corona. My older sister Megan went on a mission trip with our school to Molokai Hawaii. My mom and my twin Emily heard about corona and how it was spreading from China to Italy and beyond. We got really scared because Megan was flying home the next day. Thankfully she got home. But after her trip she got sick for 1 week. Then each person in our family got a little something not as bad as Megan though. February was basically normal, sports, school, theater, friends no worries. We knew that this was going to be big when Megan came home sick.

Everything started out fine, but as the month progressed volleyball games got canceled, toilet paper started going out of stock, and people started going crazy for canned food. Everyone stayed far away from one another and were trapped in a prison that we call home. We all got confused as to why everyone was also going crazy over cleaning supplies. Little did all of us know that this was just the beginning of the travesty.

In February of 2020 I was 13 living my best life. I was playing beach volleyball everyday and going to school. I was allowed to go outside and play with my friends and I never thought that would change. No one wore masks but now I can't imagine life without them. I was doing tournaments at the beach every weekend but now I'm lucky to be doing even one. There was toilet paper on the shelves. If you even get a roll now it seems like you have won the lottery. Everyday before felt different new opportunities and new goals to achieve. Ever since, it's all the same. Everyday feels like it goes by so fast and yet so slow. On March 13, 2020 was when it started to feel real. We were in class and everyone was preparing to shut down. In each class we were preparing and problem solving for the next few weeks online. Well what we thought was a few weeks. A longer spring break turned into 10 months. I remember saying goodbye to all my friends even though, we thought we were coming back but, we hugged each other like it was the last time. And it was. Friends I thought I would know forever just drifted. My first day of online school was ruff. I had a hard time logging into zoom and my eyes hurt at the end of the day. Now it's a part of my daily schedule. It is my new normal.

In February I was doing what I usually do. I go to school and I play sports with my friends. The first time I looked at the news I saw something called the coronavirus. I didn't know what this was. It was new to me. The news showed that it was an illness in China. I didn't think it was going to be so big. It was just a normal illness in China. Until it spread to other countries. Then continents. It spread to Europe, then Australia, then eventually the USA. They started shutting everything down. I got a little scared but not as much. I still got together with my friends to play sports and hung out with them. Then they shut down the school. We had to do online school, but I got used to it after the first couple of weeks. Instead of doing sports in leagues, my friends and I would play in the park instead. The thing that affected me the most was I couldn't travel to Europe this year. If you wanted to travel in airplanes, there would be a lot of precautions and we would have to wear masks the whole time, so we figured out that it wasn't worth it to go and we would have to wait until next year. In conclusion, the coronavirus was scary at first, but after a month or two, everything went back to normal for me and wasn't as scary.

Early into the year (January-March) this all began, and I was thrown into a world of change, excitement, and difficulty, but before all of this, I myself knew 2020 wasn't going to be a normal year. For me, it started out great, I was on a ski trip after new years and was just relaxed because I was out of school and having fun, but in these times I kept hearing of terrible things happening in the world, one of these being the coronavirus, I didn't pay any attention to it and expected it to be a problem only in China and other countries far from California, but as the year progressed, stuff started to get more severe, and by late February/early March, stuff started to get serious as it got into the USA, and March 13 is now a day I will forever remember as the last normal day in 2020, after that, online school started, which was easy to begin with and it was fun because I was still able to go to my local store and talk to my friends online, the last semester of 7th grade was easy and fun, and Summer came around and I was able to hang out with my friends a little bit, then 8th grade started, and it started out fun, but as we entered December, everything is starting to get worse and the cases are increasing because the virus likes colder weather, so much has gone wrong this month, my. yearly ski trip that I mentioned art the start is cancelled and so much is going wrong, lets hope 2021 is better, and we can get this stuff behind us all.

This year's Thanksgiving was different than most years. My family and I usually spend Thanksgiving in Lake Arrowhead and luckily we were still able to go its year. We also still got to spend thanksgiving with my cousins, aunt, uncle and nana like we usually which was fun. One of the things we love to in Lake Arrowhead is shop in the village but this year some of the stores in the village were going out of business because of the coronavirus. In the other shops that were still open we had to wear masks and there were lines outside of some of them. Another thing that was different was that a lot of our favorite restaurants were closed for seating and instead we had to pick up the food. Our family still had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner and we ate turkey and all the normal foods we would usually eat. However, when we went to the local grocery store they were sold out of all of food and the grocery was packed even more than it usually is because people were getting worried about not having another food while were in lockdown.

On Wednesday, the 2 days before my school told us we were going online, I had my oaks Christian interview for going to school the following year. I remember going to my interview and then everything covid blowing up in my face the same day. I got accepted to oaks Christian the day I had my interview, and then the next day we were told starting Monday we would be going online. That Friday, we were working on setting up for online school, all of the tests and quizzes were canceled. My friends and I didn't think it would get this far, we thought we would go do online school for 3 weeks, and then come back. We thought we would be able to hang out at each other's houses and do online school there. We were told that the flu was worse and that it was a big deal and that it would be over soon. We quickly were put on lockdown and we didn't see each other for months.

My life before Covid-19 was going very well. I was traveling for competitions and doing sports, actually going to school in person normally, and I was able to see the rest of my family. I was very happy, and then everything began to fall apart. Back in January, I found out about the virus, and how it was in China. Everybody thought that it was a joke and we would all laugh when someone talked about it, but we never thought that it would spread to the USA, or cause an emergency global pandemic. I was actually at a competition the weekend before everything shut down, completely unaware of what was about to happen. We got home from the competition and the next day at school, I began to hear that other schools were shutting down and canceling school temporarily. That is when it all hit me. Our school was shutting down, stores were shutting down, restaurants were shutting down, everything was closed, and I thought that the world was ending. Who knew that right after coming back from a normal competition and a regular life that everything was changing. I definitely didn’t. The worst and funniest part about everything shutting down in an emergency rush, was the outage of toilet paper. Everyone was stalking up on toilet paper, for a reason I am not aware of, causing almost all stores and online websites to be completely out of it. People began to panic for this reason, and that is when people began to hoard things like dry foods, toilet paper, water, and that is when getting essential items became a huge struggle. Everyone basically had to fight to get the things they needed. Covid-19 changed the whole world, and it was definitely not expected.

I chose this because I think it was actually really significant during the pandemic, and also just in 2020. TikTok is an app where people create 60 second videos, it can be dancing, making food, doing pranks, whatever you want. TikTok started becoming popular in 2019, but it really blew up in March when we were all stuck inside. I know from myself, I spend endless hours on TikTok, so did the rest of my family, even my parents. I haven’t met anyone who didn’t go on TikTok, or at least see TikToks online during lockdown, it was everywhere. I think this is significant to the pandemic and 2020, because it was how most of us kept busy, around the world. We were all watching the same videos, doing the same dancing trends, cooking the famous food for that week, etc. TikTok now has 850 million users.