On March 13, 2020, a sudden news that changed humanity itself. After school we received an email about students not being able to go to public school, switching over to remote learning. In an archive by Sophie Ferrara, she elaborates on the pros and cons of the COVID-19 pandemic. She explains how there are many restrictions in preventing the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing, wearing face masks, and forcing stay-at-home orders. But she realizes that she has the opportunity to spare some time with her family and to have time to look at her dream colleges and research them. In another submission that I least resonated with was where there were many complaints about the class of 2020 in all school levels that are moving on are upset that they are going to miss graduation. In reality, that really doesn't matter to me because I still have one year left and it could possibly be different next year on my senior year, it may sound ignorant but it is the truth and if it were to still continue where I can't surpass to my senior year then, yes it will change my perspective of it. The shift from physical school to online school has made an impact in my Junior year, it has changed the way I am able to learn to make it difficult to understand the work when there is no one there to help me physically. It has ruined the way I can communicate with people, making it difficult to speak after isolated for so long at home. I miss being with my friends not being to create more memories with them and not being to make more inside jokes and making each other laugh at the most random things. And finally, my swim season being canceled, not being able to make it league finals and CIF, missing the feeling of being relaxed in the water, missing my second home and family, miss hearing the beep on the start and diving in. In general, I miss being in my classes, waking up at 4 in the morning to prepare myself for practice, and the entire school day. I miss seeing the smile on my teacher's faces every day (Hi Mrs. Jue I miss you) and miss seeing staff smile every day as well. But I pray that all of this ends and we can have the opportunity to go back and have the normal lives we had before receiving that email on March 13th, I want all of us to be happy and continue living their normal lives. Stay safe and wash your hands. xoxo

On March 13, 2020, a sudden news that changed humanity itself. After school we received an email about students not being able to go to public school, switching over to remote learning. In an archive by Sophie Ferrara, she elaborates on the pros and cons of the COVID-19 pandemic. She explains how there are many restrictions in preventing the spread of COVID-19 through social distancing, wearing face masks, and forcing stay-at-home orders. But she realizes that she has the opportunity to spare some time with her family and to have time to look at her dream colleges and research them. In another submission that I least resonated with was where there were many complaints about the class of 2020 in all school levels that are moving on are upset that they are going to miss graduation. In reality, that really doesn't matter to me because I still have one year left and it could possibly be different next year on my senior year, it may sound ignorant but it is the truth and if it were to still continue where I can't surpass to my senior year then, yes it will change my perspective of it. The shift from physical school to online school has made an impact in my Junior year, it has changed the way I am able to learn to make it difficult to understand the work when there is no one there to help me physically. It has ruined the way I can communicate with people, making it difficult to speak after isolated for so long at home. I miss being with my friends not being to create more memories with them and not being to make more inside jokes and making each other laugh at the most random things. And finally, my swim season being canceled, not being able to make it league finals and CIF, missing the feeling of being relaxed in the water, missing my second home and family, miss hearing the beep on the start and diving in. In general, I miss being in my classes, waking up at 4 in the morning to prepare myself for practice, and the entire school day. I miss seeing the smile on my teacher's faces every day (Hi Mrs. Jue I miss you) and miss seeing staff smile every day as well. But I pray that all of this ends and we can have the opportunity to go back and have the normal lives we had before receiving that email on March 13th, I want all of us to be happy and continue living their normal lives. Stay safe and wash your hands. xoxo

Personally, while this pandemic has impacted many people around the world, in my area we are not as affected by death nor illness, but rather the fear of the situation. There is much doubt and fear in our world at this moment in time, not only with COVID-19 but also in regard to the riots and protests. Despite this, I have merely stayed at home and both stressed over coursework and enjoyed more time to relax. I feel that this meme encapsulates the relief I experience over not having to physically go places, but also the sadness of not being able to see my friends and family. However, with social media and games especially, I am able to communicate with them and talk as I would do with them online like I would if we weren't on lockdown.

so the first few days were enjoyable because being at home and all day allowed for much more free time. however upon finding out people were not staying home and the amount of cases in the US jumped to #1 in the world 🤩 made me sad. this meme basically explains the disappointment i hold for americans not being able to quarantine.

I want to share my personal experience and how I'm dealing with COVID-19 quarantine.

Quarantine has been overall boring for the past two months. My day consists of being on my laptop and scrambling to get work done or just on my phone while scrolling through social media. By the end of quarantine, my average screen time probably has reached to 12 hours per day. I haven't talked to any friends for awhile that I often talked to while school was in session which I honestly don't mind because it means that those friends won't last after high school.

It was all so sudden: we had just had our team banquet for basketball and we were getting ready to enter off-season, a time of having fun at practice and enjoying the time away from it with friends before summer comes along and the fun can truly begin. Then about a week after we got the email saying that in-class learning was to be postponed until after Spring Break. At first we were happy, like any student, not having to go to school and not having to practice. However that period stretched from the beginning of April to May, and then to the end of the school year, and now we don't even know if we're going to be able to return for the next school year like usual. It took away the practices that we usually have everyday, it took away the time I had to just grind it out with my teammates, with my brothers, it took away to get better and grow both individually and as a team. It's one of those things that you don't appreciate until it's taken away from you. It also has taken away the hope of coming back together for summer-league, as summer sports programs have been cancelled due to the pandemic. We may not even have a regular season. Then the hardship of not being able to go out and spend time with friends is something that I, along with many other people have to endure. It's painful to have to deal with, and many people are advocating for the end of quarantine. I'm not gonna say it's right or not, but I feel like it's only right to end it when it's deemed safe to do so, and we shouldn't try to rush it because it'll only hurt us more. Then the recent events of police brutality with the death of George Floyd has sparked uprisings by the black community and many others that support the movement. There are many sides to take in the controversy, and there are also many ways to go about dealing with it. Despite the conflicting opinions, I hope that we can resolve this without causing more harm than help.

During times of fear or crisis, many people will rely on faith. During this pandemic, faith is what I rely on just like millions of others around the world. And to pass the time during social distancing, I started designing wooden crosses to send out to family members so that they receive the message to always have faith during these challenging times.

The art reminded me that there is always happiness, even in the darkest of times. No matter how bad or painful things get in this life, we have to remember to just keep on living.

During this pandemic I’ve had the opportunity to gain weight and confidence. The pandemic is definitely a terrible time to be in and I try to find positive things to do like working on myself. What I submitted is important to me because it will show the productivity that can still be done despite only being able to be at home.

Switching from in person school to distance learning has been a huge adjustment for all students. Many people have categorized the different types of students by the term they use to describe COVID-19/coronavirus. Turning our attention away from the struggles of adjusting to distance learning towards humor helps us cope with the loss of our sports seasons and the loss of normalcy in many of our lives.

When school was first canceled due to COVID 19, my friend and I thought that It would be sort of an extension of summer for us, but we could not foresee the extent to which business would close. This whole quarantine and lockdown serves us right for thinking that we were able to do anything that we wanted. Basically, for people who look back at this in the future, quarantine for students was basically just school at your house where you didn't have a mandatory time to show up, still pretty miserable since you were bored most of the time and couldn't even see your friends.

Ever since school has been cancelled in person, I've been doing all my assignments on my laptop. I never thought that I would be kind of home-schooled but it's just the way it is. It has been a routine of mine to wake up and immediately grab my laptop to see if any of my teachers have assigned any work. I can manage working on my laptop but I miss seeing friends and teachers.

This photo was taken an hour or two before I was set to take my APUSH exam, since Freshman year I had always taken AP tests so with the new distance learning it was definitely a different experience. Normally, on AP test day, minutes before my classmates and I would sit for hours to test, we would usually all gather and share our anxiousness among each other, this time I was alone trying to calm my nerves with coffee and Cheerios while studying notes I had accumulated throughout the course. Missing this short, traditional, and oddly comforting moment that I would normally share with my peers really made me reflect and cherish all the memories, big or small, that I’ve had, especially in school.

This meme is relatable to me because of the fact that my Birthday had passed during this Pandemic. I found it funny because it was a small gathering of my five family members with a small cake. This is important to me because I enjoyed it and I thought it was thoughtful that my family still gave me a cake during a time when money is scarce. Anyways, I enjoyed my cake a lot since it had been so long since I had eaten something other rice and chicken and it was so much more enjoyable because of the thought.

In time of the coronavirus, the College Board shifted their AP exams to be taken online this year. My first AP exam, which was Calculus AB, had me a bit nervous, but it really spiked the day before my exam. I found out that people who already took their AP exams couldn’t submit their forms due to a glitch on the website. Luckily, I was able to finish and turn in all of my exams with success, and even if I don’t pass these exams, I can say that I proudly tried my best and gave it my all during this time of social distancing.

I’ve always avoided cooking in the kitchen with my mom and brother. I abhorred cooking and making a mess in the kitchen. Yet ever since quarantine, my opinion has changed. During the beginning of my quarantine, I made a list of goals for myself. One of them was to learn new recipes in the kitchen. I was a bit hesitant at first due to fearing mistakes and ruining the food I was preparing. I started off by making simple recipes: omelettes, pancakes and such. I made plenty of mistakes and got frustrated with myself, but mom was always there to encourage me and bring guidance. Then I began to make more complex recipes like seafood pasta and Mexican style costillas de puerco. Overall, it was a fantastic learning experience and I grew to enjoy cooking so much more than before! Here are some pictures of food I made recently (the pizza was kind of a fail, but my dad enjoyed it).

Like many others, quarantine has dramatically shifted everyday lives from enjoying the virtues of going out to having to stay at home to prevent the spread of the virus. Personally, I am very anxious and tired of having to stay at home every single day, hoping that everything returns to normal so I can go out with my friends and go to school. But, I realized during the early stages of quarantine, that I should be contributing to help keep out country safe by staying at home. Everyday I am saddened that many of the hobbies and everyday activities I used to enjoy are now unreachable. Many things that I anticipated such as my sport's season, getting my driver's license (my behind the wheel appointment was cancelled), and spending time with friends have been taken away from me. However, there are many of those who do not think the same as me, and find themselves going out leisurely without a care for what is going on. Many of these people believe that this virus is a myth, and if not they are people who are selfish and only care for their own pleasure. This meme I attached to this story is a great depiction of what is going on; people are continuing to go out even though there are plenty reasons they should not be. With people continuously going out for unjustifiable reasons, the virus will never seize to spread. Everyone's lives are affected by this virus, whether it be families witnessing loved ones dying, being unable to pay off bills and rent due to the loss or discontinuation of jobs, and children, who should be going to school and experiencing life, having to be stuck at home. People need to realize that this situation does not revolve around solely themselves and understand that their actions will only result in delaying the process of flattening the corona virus case curve.

During COVID-19 and while social distancing, it became very hard to find things to do. It constantly felt like time repeated itself and went on forever, everyday felt the same. So the object I uploaded is a painting I made during the first couple of weeks of social distancing. This painting is important to me because if it hadn't been for staying home due to COVID-19, I never would have picked up a paint brush and made my first ever complete painting. I discovered a new hobby and talent I never knew I had, and it makes me realize that other people have also probably discovered new things to try because of this time we're going through.

Because of social distancing guidelines, many pools are closed. This forced many competitive swimmers like me to get creative in order to stay fit. In this photo, I am practicing in a pool with a cord suspending me because my backyard pool is less than half the length of the pool I usually practice in. As fortunate as I am to have a backyard pool, many other competitive swimmers who do not have access to a pool have to make the best of their resources in order to stay in shape. When pools begin opening up again and competitions start taking place, competitive swimmers have to be prepared to return and race other swimmers although they have been dealt different resources and advantages or disadvantages.

While my friends lamented about how bored they were over text, I was trying to keep myself busy with new hobbies. I didn't want to sit still and stare at a screen all day, and soon enough I was filled with a passion to not become bored. I decided to go back to an old hobby of mine- crocheting. I had an untouched pile of yarn and some crochet needles sitting in my room, collecting dust. With the help of a few YouTube tutorials, I was back on track with the basics and started crocheting new things every day. The rhythm and repeated actions of crocheting were soothing and gave me time to reflect on life. As a result, I ran out of all my yarn and quickly went to buy some more online. Crocheting gave me a temporary purpose and was a good source of entertainment in my isolated life.

A short clip of what I did during quarantine. Essentially, as we were put in quarantine, it didn't affect me much besides the fact that AP testing were still continued which had caused an uproar on all social media platforms. Furthermore, my quarantine life was spent 12 hours a day on some sort of device; whether it be my phone, laptop, or the switch. Everyone expected 2020 to be the year of an adventure of a lifetime, symbolizing growth into adulthood as us juniors looked forward to opportunities and moving forward in life. The reality is far from just not being able to go to school. We can't go anywhere in fear of contamination and while the world feels like it's on pause, it's not. It is sad to think about the what if's and what could've been but this is how it has to be. This experience has truly humbled a lot of people I know to live out their lives as well as teaching us about hardships and having to say goodbye.

it’s funny to think how this all started as a joke. i always knew that this was real and it was happening, but no one really took it seriously, no one thought that i could really happen to them. however, over the past months, it has become clear how the virus has affected us, in a way that no one ever really thought it would. the past few months for me have been, for lack of a better word, different. with all the uncertainty and all the time, i find myself questioning it all. it was like waking up from a dream, i second guess myself, wondering if it was all really happening. but then, i look at the movie tickets pinned to my wall, expired; my backpack, sitting in the corner of my room, untouched; and my textbooks lying on my desk, collecting dust. and i realize, yes, this was really happening. i don’t know if anything i have said holds any significance or meaning, or even if it makes and sense. but this is a time of senselessness, so i guess it fits right in.

This is about the things I've missed in choir because of the pandemic. Because of coronavirus, my choir and I couldn't go do our festivals which we could've meet other choirs. We were supposed to go to Knotts Berry farm and Universal Studios. We were supposed to sing one of my favorite songs, Hey Jude, in our last concert. This pandemic has taken a lot from many students, not only us. I can't help but feel bad for our seniors in choir especially those who were in choir for all fours years of their highschool life.

Under quarantine I took up biking to keep me active and mentally sane. This allowed me to cruise around the city I live in and sort of go sight seeing in downtown areas and even the area surrounding Disneyland. Occasionally I’d stop by The Outlets at Orange or aka the block and bike around the completely empty parking lots. I wasn’t the only person there as sometimes I’d see people skating, walking, running, or even roller skating. I think the most interesting things I saw people do to try to stay sane under quarantine was the visits to Krispy Kreme, the line for the drive thru were insanely long and wrapped around the curb like a snake. It felt strange seeing the block so lonely but it has recently reopened and is full of cars yet again.

The object that I've uploaded says that the pandemic will have a long-term effect on the entire world economy. The global GDP will go down, businesses will close, and millions of people will be left without a job. So unless there is a vaccine found faster, each month people are not working and society is going back to normal, the recovery time will only grow. I'm pretty sure this is obvious stuff to know but I guess that's what I'm most worried about the pandemic.

This quarantine experience so far has left me with many mixed emotions. Seeing and spending time with my family everyday allowed me to grow closer to them, but at the same time, it can be annoying sometimes. School closure was one of the many results of the pandemic. Online learning is rough, there is no interaction with teachers or classmates, but it has taught me to manage my time better. I miss seeing my teachers and hanging out with my friends. But, during this quarantine period, I was able to catch up on TV shows and spend countless hours watching anime. I also have time to get fit and develop useful skills like cooking, or simply just adopting a new hobby. I may miss my friends a lot, but I now have time to spend time with my family and work on improving myself and also watch a lot of Netflix. I also developed a tiktok addiction, which isn't healthy.

In the picture, I have my laptop and notebooks next to me. I am sitting on the kitchen table, which I share with two brothers as we do not have private spaces to work. Countless students, including myself, are feeling disadvantaged in quarantine. Succeeding academically, as well as balancing school and outside responsibilities, is especially difficult when there is no physical separation between home and school.

My family and I have go camping multiple times a year and since this pandemic started our plans of going camping were cancelled due to the closure of national parks. Camping was something that helped me get through the school year and motivated me to work hard until the very end so that then I can go camping and forget about all my worries in the city. Now without being able to go out my 5 year old brother gave my sister and I the idea of building a fort in the living room. Although its not the same of getting out of the house and being surrounded by nature it helps forget about anything going on in life and just having fun.

Due to Covid-19, our school was unable to have an in-person prom so we had a virtual one on zoom. I was chosen as a nominee for prom prince and so I took the first picture dressed up to announce my nomination. Our virtual prom was on the 30th of May where I actually won and received a studded face mask as well as some snacks from a teacher.

With the COVID-19 pandemic that has lasted for a few months now, keeping in touch with my friends and family has been hard. We are all stuck inside and I can’t reach out to my friends and it’s hard to not feel connected in my social life. My friends and I stay connected by calling each other on Facetime at times. This picture was captured during one of our calls when we watched my friend Emely cut her hair. Even though we stay connected by calling each other on Facetime, it doesn’t feel the same and I miss in-person interaction. My daily-life isn’t as productive with school now being online based. I miss seeing my teachers who I love even though I was complain about not wanting to go to school. I miss being able to go outside without feeling suffocated in a mask. I miss going out to places with my friends. Being in quarantine has made me notice how not being at school for this long has affected me. Being by myself has made me feel discourage and I’ve realized that I rely on my friends to make my days happy. I’ve noticed that some friendships I made rely solely on common classes and in-person interaction and now that I can’t do that those friendships have started to fade. It’s sad that had happen, but at least I have some strong friendships that will last even when we hardly interact with one another. Even though it’s tough see my friends and my family, we should know that it’s important to keep social distancing. Going to eat with friend and going to beaches surrounded by a lot of people’s would just increase the number of cases. It doesn’t just out your own health at risk, but the people that you’ve come into contact with would be at risk as well. At this moment, it’s important to keep in mind that we need to take care of those you love by staying away. I know it may be hard, but it’s for the best !

After months of our parents not letting us see eachother due to COVID-19, me and my best friend decided to hang out in my front yard. She brought over boba and food from Ding Tea (our favorite), and we ate together 6 feet apart, as we watched the sun go down. When we decided to get near eachother for pictures, we were cautious and made sure to put on masks to be safe.

A few days before the official national lockdown, people were panic buying and clearing shelves at store. Non-perishable foods such as SPAM, pasta, and other canned foods were being taken off shelves. Essential items such as Clorox wipes, toilet paper, rice, and bottled water also seemed to be popular among panic-buyers. Here are photos of two large stores, Costco and Walmart, where shelves were cleared and people were almost fighting over items.

Due to COVID-19, American Cancer Society, a high school club dedicated to raising awareness to cancer, held its Club Officer announcements through a Zoom call online rather than in person, following a Zoom interview.

During this scary time, I was able to create a youtube channel to channel my cooking skills and share it to the world. I was able to stay calm while cooking during this time, and I came up with loads of new recipes to cook, and my channel is called "Kooking With Khang"

My quarantine experience consists of online classes and assignments and I couldn't be more grateful. Online classes and assignments only take out a percentage of my day and after that I am free to do whatever I want. I'm grateful that all I have to do is homework because there are front line workers that are facing the very danger that has kept us inside. Their days are long and fearful while mine are in front of a screen.

This year was supposed to be my third year in swim season. Being in varsity swim since freshman year, I've always looked up to give everything I got in my races and maybe even try to break at least one record by my senior year. With COVID-19 cancelling our entire season of swim, I was shocked in many ways because I have never expected the sport I'm passionate about to be cancelled. Not only was this tragic, but also all the hard work that I put into to make CIF 2020 went down the drain. I don't even have a pool in my backyard and when the pool opens back up again, I will be as sluggish as ever. COVID-19 affected my physical abilities in general and as I attempt to exercise with different methods besides swimming such as the popular Chloe Ting's workout, I barely saw any result and gained 7 lbs in the process. Thank you COVID-19 for ruining my swim experience.

My story is a simple one. Day after day is an assignment from my online classes and I am extremely grateful, because my day is safe and secure. On the other hand, there are people on the front lines constantly exposed to the dangers that are keeping us all in.

So in the begging of the covid 19 we didn’t take it serious well I didn’t i felt this was going to blow over in a couple of weeks and we would be able to go back to school like if nothing happened. I never expected for the virus to explode the way it did. It has prevented me on finishing my first track season it has prevented me from going to see friends and family it has prevented me to go and learn and celebrate in school, and all this has me really conflicted i mean i know I’m not the only one but I’m frustrated that i can’t go out and live my best life, i can cant go and do hands on learning, i cant see my future as i did before i have been having some trouble learning everything is just crazy in the world right now.

All year my classmates and I have studied and worked in order to ace the AP tests. However due to quarantine we were unable to take the normal AP tests and had to take the online version. One year of work was graded with 1-2 essay(s) which is completely unfair. Due to the essays covering only a small portion of the year my classmates and I were annoyed. During the actual tests there were different prompts, all varying in difficulty, which is unfair. Many people often had trouble with the whole experience and there are several classmates that have to retake the test. The AP tests this year was a doozy yet I’m glad it is over. Hopefully a vaccine comes out soon and this pandemic ends because the future looks so hopeless.

Due to quarantine, we can no longer hangout with our friends to see each other without the risk of getting and spreading COVID-19. The only way we can all hangout and see each other is through a screen. Instead of looking forward to seeing our friends on the weekend, we have to resort a zoom call to see each other. This picture shows all my friends all together in one zoom call to celebrate my friend's birthday.

I picked this up in middle school and have copied from it to make up for my boredom.

I got this book in middle school when our librarian was clearing out the library for renovations. I never had time until now to try new recipes.

This is important to me because I haven't even touched a sketchbook in so long despite wanting to learn how to draw.

Relatives from Mexico were supposed to visit during the summer since they were finally granted access to visit the United States. Unfortunately, those plans have been canceled and it is truly upsetting. They've never experienced a fun day at the beach due to how they live in the very center of Mexico, the city, and we wanted to make the most out of this opportunity they were given.

So before this whole global pandemic struck, my friend, I shall refer to him as Johnny. Johnny had a crush on this girl we'll refer to her as Emily, this is all happening during our junior year as of 2020. Anyways so Johnny and Emily worked on a particular project together most if not every school calls it the year book. So Johnny has a dilemma, he wants to ask Emily out, but he wants to keep things "professional" in the work place. And so being the great friend I was, I said to him, "Ask her out, what's the worse that could happen?" For about two weeks he holds off, talks to her, texts her, you know the usual. So the day he was going to ask her out was the day that the schools were shutting down for the pandemic. We were having shawarma, and Johnny was going to ask her out after our group meal. Unfortunately we get this email saying that schools are on lock down along with small businesses and other entertainment/activities. Unfortunately he didn't ever ask her out because of the lock down and barely even messages his crush. Honestly if the virus didn't hit Johnny might now be in a happy relationship, but unfortunately he isn't. I really feel for him, he mustered up all his courage to ask his crush out and the virus was like nope. Poor guy

This picture shows the essentials I have to bring now whenever I leave my house as a result of this pandemic.

This picture if relevant to what is happening to Asian Americans, they face hate crimes almost everyday ever since the outbreak of COVID-19. As a young student who is proud to be an Asian, living in America suddenly sounds like a scary reality that we don't want to face, afraid to be suddenly attack by people who believe Asians are the reason there is a global pandemic.

It was back in February or March. I had told my friend, who was freaking out about COVID-19 coming to us here in Grove, that we'll be fine, that there is not anything to worry about. I mean China is so far away- but it came so fast. No one knew March 13, a Friday, would be our last time seeing each other for who knows how long. It has been more than 2 months now that no one has physically seen me except my family. Don't get me wrong though. I feel much less stress, I have a better sleep schedule (no more eye bags), and I have good relations with my family. Therefore, I can not say I want out because I hate being stuck here at home, but I want out because this is not how I want to live my life. But yet, there are those people out and about and who are so upset with this lockdown that they go out and protest to open America up again, that I have to continue living a life I rather not live. Someone like me, who is a daughter of an ER nurse working in the COVID-19 tents sometimes, stays home and follows the rule can get sick. Without even going out! So understand me if I am infuriated with people like them. I am only lucky that my dad can make it home safe and that he has not gotten sick either. I'm still young and I want to explore and hang out with my friends and laugh all day long and eat new foods. Summer is coming fast and then it'll be my senior year of highschool. I have had enough, but what can I change? Nothing really. But I guess for the time being, I will continue staying home, doing homework, watching anime, reading books, and playing games, hoping that I can go outside again and be free with friends and family.

During this quarantine, my friends and I felt sadden that we were not able to see each other day to day anymore. We missed the company and speaking to each other face to face again. In order to stay connected to made several Tik Tok's together to pass the time. It was so fun to see the final product and have fun together again. During this pandemic it is really hard to go without company. Even with my family there seems to be something missing and that is my friends. Friends are everything and you must stay in contact no matter what or friendships are going to be difficult to keep up with.