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2021-01-19
rules
when covid first hit the first rule was to slow down international travel. this didn't work when there was an out break in Washington that spread fast. I didn't really mind this rule I just couldn't travel over summer but then they told people to stay six feet away from each other. this wasn't too bad either just I couldn't hang out with friends indoors and we couldn't go to a public place so we mostly surfed skated and built bike jumps. then they told us to wear masks. to avoid all these rules I never really left my naborhood unless go to my friends house and then we wouldn't go out side there naborhood. the masks where the worst it would make it hard to breath and stuff. -
2021-01-19
Covid Procedures
There are a lot of new Covid rules. One of them that I don't like is that I can't visit with friends. There have been multiple times when I wanted to have a friend over at my house but couldn't because of Covid. I don't really care about the masks except that they ruined the fashion style for the next decade or more. The grade split sucks because most of my friends are in a different grade, but it's not too bad, because one of them got special permission to eat break and lunch with me so we can talk. Social distancing is also annoying but not too big of a problem. I also was doing school online fine. Overall, the Covid procedures are a somewhat minor annoyance. -
2021-01-19
Procedure during COVID-19
During COVID-19, there are many procedures you have to follow. We had to stay inside our houses. It has been about a year-long process. At first, it was fun adapting to a new lifestyle, but after a while, I wanted to go to places and it was starting to get boring. However, I was able to talk to my friends over the phone and through a chatting application called discord. Another procedure was staying six feet apart. With friends, this was not so bad of a rule, but with family, it is always nice to be able to hug your loved ones. However, we would use air hugs and it was kind of fun. Overall, COVID-19 procedures were fun at the start, but over time, they would get boring and we had to find new ways to get around it. -
2021-01-28
the beginning
The day before quarantine, I was with my friend and we had both just gone to a birthday. we knew about the virus but not about social distancing and masks. my dad had called me and told me to stay away from anyone. I was confused on why but when I went to Northern California, I realized that the cases in LA started to spike rapidly. from that moment forward, I wouldn't be seeing anybody for the next five months. when I went up there in November, there were few cases. Maybe 50. so when we went out to get food, groceries, or anything like that, I realized nobody really bothered to wear a mask. of course my family still did but we ended up getting weird looks from other people for wearing one. it was really strange. -
2021-01-19
Rules of Covid.
I mean, in reality the rules that i had to follow were not that bad. Wear a mask, stay six feet, wash hands, quarantine for two weeks. Those rules are pretty easy to follow. If you want to go somewhere just throw on a mask whenever around or near people. Stay six feet, just maintain six feet from people. (Not that hard). Wash hands, We do this on a daily so its not hard at all. We just need to wash them a little more than we did when Covid wasn't around. Being able to quarantine for two weeks, if you're friends or family or even you have covid, just stay at home for a while. It's not going to hurt you. Overall, rules are easy to follow, you just have to accept them. -
2021-01-19
The rules and procedures of Covid 19
Because of Covid, we have to wear a mask if we go anywhere besides our house. I personally do not like wearing a mask at all and I think they are hard to breathe in and very annoying. We also have to social distance from other people at places like the grocery store. That means the stores can only have a certain number of people in them at a time. I think social distancing isn't a bad idea can it help with having germs from one person not spread to another. In the beginning of covid, we had to quarantine which means we couldn't leave the house unless it was necessary like going to the grocery store. I hated quarantining because it was very boring and I wanted to see my friends. Now we don't have to quarantine and we can see people. Also now all retail shops are open were in the beginning only grocery stores were open. -
2021-01-17
Twitch Streaming
At the end of last year, after some motivation from my friends, I began to stream on the gaming stream platform Twitch. It had always been a wish of mine to do something along those lines, but my timidness limited my capabilities. Considering how much of my time in quarantine was spent gaming, my friends encouraged me to start streaming, while I still had the opportunity. I can't wait to continue in the new year, especially with the support of my friends, so that I can have a small following in the future! -
2021-01-17
MMORPGs in Quarantine
Over quarantine, with so much more free time, my friends and I found ourselves becoming invested into a fun mobile game called Dragon Raja, where we customized characters and created friends from around the country/world. The game had events scheduled at specific times every day, which allowed us to keep track of the days as the months dragged on, giving us something to look forward to when there wasn't much that we could do together. -
2021-01-15
My experience of irtual learning
My routine for my online learning from the corona Virus is was odd at first because we were not in school and fully online. the benefits were I not to spend more time with family but the downside is that we couldn't leave our house but only for groceries and we could not see any friends or go to school. -
2020
Remote learning in 2020
Remote learning has been actually easy for me. I've found it interesting, and sometimes fun. I like learning from home, but I miss going to school and seeing all of my friends. -
2021-01-15
Remote Learning
Due to Covid-19, instead of learning in person everyone learned online or distant learning. The day before everything went online, at school we prepared for school online. We prepared Zoom, which is the video call that we used to learn. We would spend a lot of time on Zoom, in order to learn the same as we would in person. At times Zoom became very tiresome. On Zoom during advisory I remember our class talking about how Zoom is tiresome. The main thing online school lacked is social interaction, you could not really talk to friends at school like you normally would. Remote learning did have some positives, though. For example, it was nice to be at home at times rather than at school. All in all I am grateful that we were able to continue learning even through Covid-19. -
2021-01-15
Experiences While Learning Virtually
Learning virtually seemed so amazing in the beginning, but once it was the only option, it was terrible. The beginning seemed like a nice break from going to school, but after a while I was ready to go back. Being on a computer for almost seven hours a day, five days a week was killing me. Our classes were 80 minutes long, and all we did was sit and stare blankly into a computer. We weren't able to see any friends, and overall it was super boring. Some good things about it was we were at our own houses, so i didn't get up until 7:45 a.m to be in class at 8:00 a.m. If you were on a trip or in a different place, you could still bring all your school stuff with you and not miss anything. Overall, I am glad to be back in school again for now. -
2021-01-11
COVID-19:first occurences
It was a cool, crisp, Monday morning. January 13, 2020. I remember the day so clear that I could recall it in deep detail. I had just returned to school a few days prior. I went on my new iPhone 11, which I had just received as a Christmas present, and began texting friends. I soon went onto an app called TikTok, went onto the for you page. There was lots of silly videos. Then, suddenly, I saw a video joking about some virus in China. But it was in China!! So for away. I thought it would never make it to America. I began researching it but time was limited. I thought it was just a regular virus, I doubted it wound affect me. I quickly ate an English Muffin with creamy apricot jelly and butter on top. I got in the cary and talked to my mom on the way to school. "Mom," I muttered as my brother sat silently in the front seat while I was in the back seat of the Prius, "what is this corona thing I heard about?". MY mom breathed out harshly and then back in. She promised me that it was just a little virus in China and that everything would be okay. We hugged goodbye, little did I know that in a few months, she would be the one of the only people I could hug. Then I went to school and said hello to my friends. To be completely honest, there was one of them that was not super kind to me, for privacy's sake, we are going to call her Bailey. I asked my not so friendly friend, Bailey if the had heard about Corona (which was the slang everyone was using to refer to it). "Ya duh!" she replied, "It's a huge virus that China created!". I was not interested in starting conspiracies. Then I went to class and my mind continued spinning for the rest of the day. -
2021-01-11
The orgin of Covid 19
I first heard about the coronavirus around February. I heard of it mainly from my mom and friends. In the beginning, I was told it started from someone eating a bat in Wuhan China. Then it spread super fast. I was never too afraid of Covid and I never imagined that my school would get shut down from it. We were still going to school until around March 16th when my school got shut down. We did online school for the rest of the year and we also went into quarantine in March. My family still wasn't too afraid of the virus but for the most part, we quarantined and kept our distance from friends. we are still not too afraid of the virus and my family and my opinions have changed too much. -
2020-12-22
Christmas with Covid
The coronavirus or covid-19 is what I had to live with and continue to live with. During the Christmas season covid hit hard and it prevented me from seeing family and friends. It was quite devastating that I was unable to visit my grandmother because it may be one of my last Christmas's with her. By the time covid is solved we will have arteficial hearts. -
2020-03-23
Corona-cation
We started hearing about the coronavirus in March 2020 so my family started stalking up on canned foods, toilet paper, and all of the essentials. We stocked up just in time too because as the week went on, everything we had bought started having a limit on the amount you can buy and they were going out of stock in almost every store. We had to stay in our house for about 4.5 months and i couldn't see any friends in person, only through a screen. When i finally saw only one of my friends months later after quarantine started, it didn't feel real. It was almost as if she was a ghost or something. I was happy to see her though and since then my family and I has been very careful about getting the virus. -
2020-12-25
How my Christmas was different
On Christmas day, my family usually goes over to my aunt's house where we hang out with friends and family we rarely get to see, but this Christmas was different. Instead of going to their house my family stayed at our home and did not get to see them. We where not able to see them at all until 3 days later where were able to Facetime them. Other than that my Christmas was not very different. -
2022-12-17
Online times
I think that remote learning is going okay so far but i’d rather be in school where I can get help easier and I can have face to face conversations with my friends. I feel like we go kinda fast in remote learning I wish we could slow it down. I also we started earlier and ended earlier at like 12. Although quarantine was nice and I got to hang with my friends, I would like to see the people I never got the chance to hang out with. -
2020-09-22
2020-09-22 covid summer
This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Over the summer i guess i did change quite a bit. The main thing that changed was really my hobbies or rather, my newfound disinterest in my old set of hobbies. I always took my hobby far too seriously and it turns out that when i didn’t have any pressure to keep pursuing it, i kind of dislike it a bit. I had a bit of an existential crisis over it but it’s been nice to take a break.. I’ve also gotten used to school a lot better. I’m a lot more responsible nowadays and i have no missing work so that’s nice. It’s partly because of all the time i don’t use up on my hobby but it’s mostly that i just find find it fun to organize my computer. Now that i think about it i really don’t want school to start. I won’t have the choice to stay home because then i’d lose touch with my friends but I’ll really miss not being mentally drained from talking to strangers. There’s also the fact that i don’t want my room to be filled up with papers that i’ll just stare at become overwhelmed by. There’s just so many reasons that i don't want to go back to in-person. -
2020-12-17
A Ray of COVID Happiness
Covid-19 has changed my summer in many different ways. For one, I have grown more in confidence since I’ve been inside for so many months. Being around myself and learning more about who I am allowed me to slowly accept myself. Also, I got to talk to my friends a lot throughout summer quarantine over Zoom and texts, so we were always around to uplift each other constantly. One of my favorite childhood memories is probably when my family and I traveled to Seattle for a few months and we auditioned for the Shake It Up Competition. I was obsessed with Zendaya, (and I still am) so that moment of time really showed me that it would be a dream of mine to be like her when I grow up. The day my sister and I auditioned was a great memory because we were just little kids in the moment who gave it a shot. Although we didn’t make it out of the hundreds of thousands, it’s heartwarming to me because we have been always trying to chase after our dreams in any circumstance. As for a regular update, I’ve been wanting to decorate my room so I’ve been compiling album covers I would want to see on my wall and hopefully being able to order print outs of those soon. To add on, I just applied to be an ambassador for a clothing company I saw on Tik Tok so hopefully I get chosen for that, because the fashion aesthetic the brand displays is so beautiful, Also, it's a black-owned business, so I’d love to support that. Overall, this pandemic has allowed us to recognize our gratitude and things we have a growing passion for. -
2020-09-14
How Covid-19 Shaped my lifestyle
Covid-19 shaped my summer by making me feel more grateful. It made realize that a lot of people around the world are losing their life even when they were taking precaution for the virus. I am grateful that I live a healthy lifestyle and so does my family. The first part of quarantine we were not even supposed to leave our house, which at first sucked. But as time went on, I started to begin to feel really appreciative of the things that I didn’t notice could have such a huge impact. For example, before quarantine, my dad would take me to school, and bring me home from school. My mom was a teacher so she was at school the same time I was at school, so she was never available to pick me up. My dad went from working in an office 24/7, to working at home 24/7, so he was there for me at any time of the day when I possibly needed him. Even though he worked at home, he was constantly busy with phone calls and virtual conferences, just like he would be doing if he was in an office. So when quarantine started I had told him, “at least you don’t have to drive me to school anymore.” He had told me that even when I was school, how stressful it was to try and make it to school at 2:55pm, I am super excited for this weekend because I go get to hang out with my sister and her new roommates that she moving in with in October. My whole family has known them since before I was born, and my other sister and her fiance are coming so no parents, yay! I also get to hang out with my friends tomorrow which I have been doing, but it’s hard to hang out as a group because everyone has different schedules. We have construction going on in our house so it is super loud and kind of hard to do school while a nail gun and drills are going on upstairs. My dog gets super anxious while loud noises are near so we have to keep her on a leash and she won’t sit still and will bark which really makes me fussy . -
2020-12-17
What is the biggest challenge that you’ve faced during covid? How have you overcome that challenge?
This talks about how I've found something good about that pandemic. This is important to me because I know a lot of people are going through a lot during the pandemic and I think we should find something to be grateful for because it will help with the trials you are going through. -
2020-09-21
Friends During COVID-19
Having to quarantine due to the COVID-19 outbreak has made me realize that people are not worth it. Many times during quarantine I have found myself not talking to any of my friends or anyone from school. This could be either because they have not reached out or because I haven’t reached out. Well if you know me I am always the one who will make the plans and will reach out first to ask to hang out. But quarantine has made me realize that nobody reaches out to me to talk or to hang out and if I hadn’t reached out we wouldn’t be talking to me or hanging out with me if I didn’t. Now what am I supposed to do wait around until somebody reaches out or should I try multiple times to reach out. What I have done now is reached out to new people because at this point I don't care what people think of me because I know it will negative in some way. So by me reaching out to new people I won’t have to waste my time on people who don't care about me and I can find people who do. -
2020-09-22
My COVID Experience
This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. It tells a short story of how life was like for me before we had to go into quarantine due to covid-19. -
2020-12-17
Quarantine Glow-Ups
During Covid-19 I realized that most of the time I do things for other people and not myself. I think it’s because since we stayed at home all the time and I had to stop doing things for other people anyway. During the school year when we actually went to school, I was always really passive and would let people walk over me with things like projects and I would have to do all the work. But then during those couple of weeks when quarantine started and we didn’t have school for a month, I took a lot of time actually taking care of myself since I never had time for self-care during the school year. I think I gained some confidence. I feel like now I don’t really let people make me do all the work anymore and it feels good. Sometimes it is hard though because in one of my classes I’m one of the only juniors and the seniors are scary. Other than having a glow-up during quarantine, my friends and I discovered ways to hang out with each other since we can't go outside. We played a lot of games, like Among Us and Genshin Impact, and they are really fun when you’re playing with friends. I always used to think that I was an introvert (still true) and I didn't need friends, but during quarantine, I learned that I just needed a couple of great friends. -
2020-09-22
Journey of Quarantine
This journal entry was written as a part of the American Studies class at California High School in San Ramon, California. Throughout my journey of quarantine and covid-19, I have realized that I have changed a lot since before quarantine. I have also realized that I figured out new things about myself, and I also figured out how to never be bored. I have picked up many new hobbies such as fishing and doing DIY projects. Also, I have gotten much more into lifting and working out, because that was the main part of my life during the quarantine. Over quarantine, my friends and I cleaned my garage out, and made it a chill spot with a couch and also a lifting cage for working out. This did cost a lot of money, so we all pitched in to the cause because we were all going to use the cage on a daily basis. After a month or two, we had completely finished it and it was amazing. I used this place every day for the rest of the summer. Another hobby I picked up was owning a fish tank. I have realized that I am fascinated by fish. I have one freshwater tank right now, but I am looking into getting a saltwater fish tank. This does cost a lot more money, but in my opinion, the saltwater fish are much cooler. -
2020-12-17
Relaxation to being Brain dead
During COVID I have learned how much I actually missed school. When COVID first hit I was happy, no school, and time to relax, but then sports and hanging with friends stopped. Going to school is really where I saw my friends and it was time to socialize and learn. I went brain dead during quarantine that when school started i was completely lost and out of it. I say i miss school because online learning is tough and not enjoyable. I learned that school was actually kinda fun. When cases started too slowly decrease many places opened back up and hanging with friends were aloud with caution, this was the time when life started to feel normal again, until it wasn't. December we start to see a rise to cases and we are no longer aloud to see people and the stay at home order has been in place. -
2020-12-01
Nintendo Switch
Ever since I was a child I have always had a love for Nintendo and their many consoles and games they’ve made throughout the years. As a child I played on the DS and 3DS and have wonderful memories with those consoles in particular. Before Covid, I didn’t think much of the Nintendo Switch. I always thought about buying a Nintendo Switch but never went ahead to make the purchase. I thought of it as an unnecessary console and thought I could just stick with playing on the 3DS when I felt the need to play a video game. I always loved the dual screen aspect of the DS and 3DS, something the Nintendo Switch lacked. Everything changed sometime in February when the Special Edition Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch was announced. Animal Crossing was one of the franchises which I had a lot of history with, playing ever since I was little. When I heard they were releasing an Animal Crossing themed Switch, I knew I had to buy it. Little did I know what world the Nintendo Switch would open me up to during a time of isolation, loneliness and chaos. I preordered the Nintendo Switch only a month or two before the pandemic broke out, it was as if I knew something huge was going to happen and I had to stock up supplies. I’d like to think I knew what was coming, and I was doing a favor for myself. By the time my Switch was delivered lock down had already ensued and all of America was going into quarantine. It was March 17th when it arrived, and the Nintendo Switch from then on, has been very special to me. For many people, the release of Animal Crossing New Horizons alongside the themed switch was a bright light in the darkness that is the pandemic. Through escapism, millions of people were able to escape to a deserted island they could build up to their wildest dreams through this game and I was one of those people. This game helped me think about other things than the pandemic, it gave me some joy in these trying times. I played many other games when I first got my switch besides Animal Crossing including Fire Emblem Three Houses and Rune Factory 4 Special. All these games gave me a place to escape to, and for me, having a place to escape to during the pandemic was the best thing that I could’ve done. The best part was I could share this joy with others. It’s not only the games themselves that brought me some joy during the pandemic, but also the communities along with it. I made countless online friends through these games, ones that I’m very close with. Through Discord, I joined a Rune Factory server and made many close friends through it. I felt a belonging during such an isolating period in our lives. I saw how others struggled, and I wanted to make sure I didn’t let that happen to myself. I’ve always been the introvert type but even now and then I get bored only spending time to myself. These video game communities helped me form friendships and bonds during a time that was thought of as impossible. Through Rune Factory 4 I especially made friends I’m still very close with even now. If I never had bought the Nintendo Switch, I would’ve never found these communities filled with wonderful people who were just like me, looking for belonging, looking for a friend, an escape from reality. Not only can I share my love for these games with these people, but I can share my Nintendo Switch with my family as well. While I’m quarantined with my family we would bond by playing games together on my Nintendo Switch. I never get to hang out with my older brother much since he has a full-time job, but I was able to get him to play with me and my sister, it was a heartwarming and fun moment I will keep as a good memory even during the pandemic. The Nintendo switch is a mediator between my quarantined space and the outside world through the internet. I can play online games with my friends and meet people through online gaming communities. I can see when my friends are online and see what they are playing. This day and age, with technology it’s so easy to connect with the outside world from your own bedroom, and so I did it with my Nintendo Switch. The possibilities of the Nintendo Switch are endless. Even when the pandemic ends, the Switch will never lose its value to me. I have made so many good memories with this Nintendo Switch over the past months I’ve had it, and I plan to make many more. There are many games coming to the Switch in the future such as Rune Factory 5 which I’m looking forward to. This time I have many friends who play the games I play, so when I start new games they’ll be by my side, and we can bond while playing the games together. -
2020-03-12
State Tournament cut short
My State Championship run being cut short due to COVID-19 cherish every moment with your friends and teammates never know when it will be yall last time playing together -
2020-12-13
Covid-19 Mental Health Interview from the Perspective of a Pharmacist
The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent. -
2020-12-03
Stormy Hearts
During this pandemic, everyone is clearly going through a difficult time. However, I think that mental health fluctuations have been especially common during this time. Sometimes we’re feeling productive and like we can accomplish anything, other days just getting out of bed takes everything in us. Different people are going to be on different levels of vibration, including friends. One friend may be feeling themselves while the other may struggle to even look at themselves in the mirror. The representation of this drawing is that even though one person may feel happy and one person may feel deep sadness, they can still be there for each other and walk through the storm together to help each other grow. Even though it doesn’t show it, this also applies to the Black Lives Matter Protests and overall racial problems. It is an issue we can help each other out with by taking the time to emphasize with people who don’t experience the same things as us. -
2020-11-26
Covid Thanksgiving
For this Thanksgiving it was different from others because this year I couldn't have any friends over or my grandparents either. Usually on a normal Thanksgiving my friends, my parents' friends and my family would come over for dinner but this year because of covid that didn't happen. Something the same from the other years that happen would be the food, we had the same food we had last year, turkey, mashed potatoes, and more. I really didn't have to prep this year because we had no one over but I still had to help buy the supplies. This year was very different it wasn't as fun but I still got to spend time with my family. -
2020-12-14
My Covid-Thanksgiving
The year 2020 has been a very strange year, and my families Thanksgiving experience was an odd one. Since we couldn't have a large family dinner, we ended up bringing food to both of my grandparents. I was really bummed to not be able to spend quality time with them, but I was still glad to get the opportunity to see them. After we left our grandparents, we went to our cousin's beach house. We were scrambling throughout the city trying to find an open restaurant for our Thanksgiving dinner. None of the restaurants were open, but we luckily got a call from our friend to have our Thanksgiving meal with them. The lesson I learned from this day was that having close family and friends really matters and that they can get you out of any tough situation. Overall, my Thanksgiving during the pandemic was not an ideal one, but it was still a blessing to be able to be with my family and friends nonetheless. -
2020-12-14
Covid Thanksgiving
I uploaded the story. -
2020-09-16
How I Stayed Connected With Friends Using Discord
When the lockdown started, my friends and I had no way to hang out in person. Luckily we can hang out over the internet by using Discord, the best online voice and video call program. We can play video games like, Apex Legends, Overwatch, and Rocket League. It's great that we can still be together while separated. -
2020-06-11
How I stayed connected with Friends online
When Covid-19 first started, I could no longer see school nor church friends. Yet through the help of Discord, the best online voice and video chat service, me and my friends were able to play games together while still following the quarantine mandate. It's great that we are able to hang out safely. -
2020-12-11
My life before Covid
Before Covid i was at school, playing sports, seeing friends, watching movies, going out to eat and other normal things. I then heard the news of a virus in China but didn't think much of it. Then i heard the news of it spreading across the world and they brought up the idea of online school but i thought that would be too good to be true. My school then anounced that it would happen and we had a long weekend as the teachers prepared for online school. we finally started and I thought it was the most amazing thing to do school from home. I luckily got a haircut before everything closed. Now I would like to get back to school because doing it online is very boring and i want to talk to friends again. -
2020-12-11
Life before Covid
My life was normal, I had school then sports. Friends on the weekends. I could go to a store without a mask or not have to wait for a person to walk out before I could go in. Little did I know all of these things would turn out for the worst. -
2020-11-26
My COVID Thanksgiving
For my COVID Thanksgiving, I was able to drive 7 hours to see my cousins who I haven't seen in a while. We cooked a small meal and all ate it together on Thanksgiving day. We weren't allowed to have any friends over and we weren't allowed to leave the house that often. In the end it was fun but it got boring from not being able to do much. -
2020-07-01
Covid-19 Mental Health Effects
Not necisarily a story just the experience of me and the people around me. During the lock down, a lot of my friends' mental health, myself included started going down. Our day to day life was unexciting, boring, and for whatever reason, negative emotions felt amplified. Not being able to see friends anymore, not going to actual school, not interacting with actual people made us feel real lonely. At least thats the way I felt. -
2020-12-01
Graduation pack
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. -
2020-12-10
Life Before COVID-19
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. -
2020-11-26
Roommate Thanksgiving
This is a picture of my roommates and I behind an entire Thanksgiving meal we made just for the three of us. We all go to USFCA, and all of our homes are out of state, so none of us went home for Thanksgiving. It was a bit emotional for me because it was the first Thanksgiving I spent away from my family. However, I was grateful to have my roommates with me who I love! -
2020-12-09
covid 19 2020
this year has been really rough because of covid. This year has probably been the worst covid has changed a lot because they have made us go to lockdown and wear masks which really sucks were all worried about getting sick we have to stay away from friends we can't go anywhere or do anything without a mask and there just uncomfortable 2020 has been the worst year so hopefully this ends soon. -
2020-12-07
Going to College with COVID
Going to college is fun, but because of COVID I will not be able to experience the full definition of college. I will never be able to experience freshman orientation or experience the touching of the thresher framing instrument. But I am still glad that my college still puts out great things for me and my friends to do to experience somewhat of what college is supposed to be. -
2020-04
The Pain of Teaching at Home
This is story like many others during this time. The work of a parent with kids sent home for e-learning. Though I had a background in education, having an M.A. in Education, this was a task that was a difficult one that my education and years of teaching could not help me. The first task is explaining to younger children why they have to stay home. Especially when we as adults are unable to truly grasp what is going on. The second part is trying to motivate students to learn when the school was not ready for this type of teaching. Though the teachers tried, the manner of teaching was a difficult one that led great stress during this time. To add to it, the consistency and norm for the children was shattered which required me to try to recreate that same standard, yet another difficult task. Added onto that, is a child that struggles with reading, which most of the assignments were backed by, instead of the lecture they were used to. The first step was trying to set the norm for them. Breakfast, work, break, work, lunch, work, done. Though it sounds simple, with two separate students with different educational abilities, and drive for success, keeping one on task while the other was done or finishing faster was a task. Aiding them was truly difficult. Some of the difficulties came from my teaching experience being middle and high school not elementary. The next being understanding some of the finer points of the material being taught, I found myself having to learn the material to then teach the material to my children. To compound it further, there is the social aspect of being stuck at home with out the interaction they needed for their peers. Though I fancy myself a “cool” dad, I will never measure up to my kids’ friends. Attempting to fill this void was significantly more difficult than being their teacher. Though my kids did not have near the growth they would have received academically while being in school, they did not lose intelligence and picked up some knowledge along the way. Though it took tears, patience, drive and resilience, it was a time that we can all reflect on and hope it never happens again, which it did, 5 months later, but everyone was better prepared and the lessons learned from the springs allowed for greater success on the second go. Here is to hoping it doesn’t happen again!!! -
2020-03-22
The Run
In the beginning of the pandemic, I, like many others, was somewhat sure everything would inevitably blow over and we would be able to return to our normal lives. However, I came to unfortunately realize that we were in it for the long haul. I realized that I was going to have to start taking charge of my own life as it was essentially flipped on its back. I no longer went to school where I was preparing for APs. I no longer had my Track and Fields practices which were keeping me active and in shape. And I no longer got to see all of my friends everyday. The pandemic taught me that I would have to take the position of my teachers and prepare myself for my APs as well as my coaches to keep myself in shape and healthy. I began to study almost everyday and really developed a theme of resiliency within my life to bounce back from the detrimental effects of the pandemic. However, this story isn't about how I studied and prepared for my APs, its about how I ran and kept running the whole time of quarantine and how it led to some unforgettable experiences. When quarantine began I knew I was going to have to start taking charge when it came to my health and fitness. So, my friend and I began to run everyday at a local park near our houses. We would run through the woods and by the rivers and we just had a really good time. We were staying in shape and felt better than ever. And, we weren't just running on a track in a loop 20 times, we were exploring nature and becoming more accustomed to having to do things for ourselves. However, one day, this excitement that running brought to us would be exchanged with fear for once. My friend and I were running besides this river that we always run along. The river was quite tame a majority of the time but that day it had rained the night before and the rapids of the river were growing increasingly ferocious. We decided to stop at this one edge along the river and take a break as it was extremely humid that day. The river was very close to where we stopped so my friend decided to splash his face with some water from the river. And, without hesitation the river stepped him into its fearful rapids. I was scrambling. I didn't know what to do or what to think as my friend barreled down the river. I started running, screaming, and trying to think of something, anything, to help my friend. He was already at least 50 yards down the river and I was slacking behind trying to come up with some makeshift idea to save him. I knew there was no waterfall to worry about, however, the river was shallow rocks beneath the rivers surface were sharp and deadly. I began to run down the rivers edge to catch up to my friend. I looked around to find anything to throw to him that he could lodge between a rock or something. I began to dig up a bunch of leaves to look for a long enough stick, however, I ended up finding something that would prove to be even more useful. I found an old wooden plank. I was so scared and restless to find something so I took what I could find and threw it to my friend. And, he was able to lodge it between the bank and a rock sticking out of the river. I was able to pull him out of the river and he was saved. We were both in shock and had no idea what to make of the situation. I was scared and confused and didn't even know what to say. My friend finally broke the silence by saying the most anticlimactic phrase for that situation, "thanks." I said "your welcome" and then we both just started laughing and got up and walked back home. Evidently enough, the plank from the picture is the one that perhaps saved my friends life and is something I don't think I will ever forget. This event showed me just how unforgettable this pandemic is going to be. Like I said, I don't think ill ever forget what happened to my friend, and I will always remember the year 2020 as the year of unforgettable instances. My friend falling into that river showed me that things are going to happen in our lives that we aren't prepared for. I, like many others across the world weren't prepared for what this pandemic was going to do to our day to day lives. However, we learned to live with it and how to solve this problem just like how I was able to solve my friends problem and save him from that river. The pandemic has taught us just how unpredictable our lives can be, and just like how I saved my friend from that river, we have to learn how to save ourselves and overcome the unpredictability that this world has to evidently offer. -
2020-12-01
Exercise in a Pandemic
When COVID struck my hometown, I thought it would not affect many things. I thought we would still be able to hang out in our local park doing our normal activities, including playing basketball at the courts. Although things started to close earlier and COVID started affecting our daily lives, we were still able to play for a few weeks. It was a surprise when one day my friends were playing basketball at the park and a sheriff pulled up to the courts to tell everyone they needed to leave the courts. My friends grabbed their stuff and left. We didn’t think much about it and went back to the courts to play again, but when we got there we found that both courts had yellow tape around them and that the basketball hoops had the rims removed so nobody could use them anymore. This was a big shock to me because I never thought that would happen. Basketball is a huge part of my life and was one of the ways I could get some exercise and hang out with my friends as restrictions on gatherings grew stricter. What is even crazier is that they still have not put the rims back up on the hoops even though the restrictions in my town have become less strict. Soccer games are happening at the school. People are working out in gyms and dining inside. The backboards remain bare. The local courts are silent. -
2020-11-30
Home for The Holidays
I live in Florida and my friend goes to school in Vermont, but for the holiday's she decided to come home. We knew this would be risky situation with her flying and having stops between, so I was able to get an extra rapid test for her since my family was already getting tested. We haven't seen each other since August, so we had been eager to be back at home together again, even though things are so different. Everyone has gone through a difficult time this year; one of the things I feel hit home is that my final stages of "childhood" and cherishing everything before I move was not at all what I wanted it to be. Now that my best friend and I are safely home together for winter break, I know we will both be doing our best to soak up all of our hometown before everything changes for good. -
2020-11-30
Finding The Sun Through The Clouds.
2020 is being described as the worse year of modern times. The year started off with an international crisis in the middle east, a series of devasting natural disasters, and of course the widespread pandemic of Covid-19. The pandemic ignited a financial crisis, and many people lost their jobs. As to date, the virus has claimed 1.46 million lives worldwide. It is understandable why so many people are biding their time, praying for this disastrous year to finally end. As I reflected back on the year, I am conflicted on my opinions on it. Covid-19 ruined my senior year of high school. I lost my graduation, my prom, and spring sporting events. I was forced to quarantine for many months in the springs, unable to see my close friends. My summer was lackluster due to the restrictions placed on my community. For my first semester in college I hoped to study abroad, however, Covid squandered that adventure too. I could look back on this year with a pessimistic mindset; however, that would be an untruthful interpretation of this year. This year has contained so many wonderful things, which have had a positive impact on my life. After years of persevering in high school, I finally got accepted into my dream college. I got into my first serious relationship with a wonderful girl. And despite Covid restrictions, I have been able to make so many new and lasting friendships in college. It is easy to write 2020 off as an awful year and put forth and effort to forget about it. However, I believe it is important to reflect on the positive events of this year. Ignoring the good things from 2020 will only strengthen its negative effects for years to come. If one can find the positives of 2020 then the year would not have been a complete waste.