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  2021-02-01

  Covid-19 Statistics

  Over the pandemic, I've learned a lot of things about people and the world. The pandemic was a lonely time, but I think it's made me realize that you can't give up just because things get hard. I've heard a lot of teens and people my age became depressed instantaneously. Especially on social media, everyday people were only talking about how bad things have gotten instead of trying to keep their spirits up. 26.2 million people have gotten the virus, and 440K people have died, but all of us had to find a way to be happy. In our city(LA) especially, we have higher covid cases than any other place in the county. Even though things are hard now there still are a lot of exciting things to think about.
• 2021-01-20

  Covid-19 Procedures

  During the Coronavirus pandemic the government has assigned us many rules to follow, and suggestions so we are able to stay healthy. Around march when the pandemic took control of the U.S. We were ordered to stay home and we were advised to no come in contact with friends or other people. For most of march and April everyone stayed at home, and rarely went out because everything was closed including grocery stores. Whenever my mom and dad would go they would wear a face mask and gloves to make sure the didn't catch the virus. Also lines in stores were socially distanced so we'd have to stay six feet apart from all people. At first masks were hard to find, and some people even said that masks don't do anything. Soon enough, everyone was able to get a mask, and the government required you to wear a mask anytime you went somewhere in public. Throughout the summer all these rules remained in place, and since I was starting 8th grade; we had to continue with online school. We did online school until Christmas, and luckily throughout these months more stores had opened up, and even thought superiors still advised we didn't see any friends, I still got to hang out with my best friend quite a bit. It is currently January of 2021, and the covid-19 cases are higher now than the ever were. At this point wearing a mask has almost become second nature, and we recently went back to school earlier this month. We are required to wear a masks, and the desks are socially distances in the classrooms. The procedures can be a bit annoying at times, but we all know that they are to protect us and the rest of the community.
• 2021-01-15

  Virtual Learning 2020

  The first day we were informed we would be doing online school was on March 13, 2020. My parents had both gotten an email from my school explaining that we would be doing school from home on our laptops. I was both shocked and excited when I heard about this. Before that day the thought of us doing online school was just a rumor. The following day at school was just learning about how online school was going to go, and how to get logged on to all our classes. Everyone was so excited for the first 2-3 weeks, since we didn't have to get up so early. But soon enough, we all started to become lonely, bored, and anxious. Most people couldn't wait to go back in person. Online school was boring since we had to do all our classes over zoom calls, and it was extremely hard to focus trying to learn through a screen. The days were long, drawn out and boring. There was no way to socialize with your friends other than FaceTime. Personally for me the online good party about learning virtual was the fact that we got to sleep in an hour later. Overall, we did online school for 8 months(not including summer break). It was unlike anything I've ever experienced and we've finally gone back to school this month(January 2021). It isn't even a question how much better in person school is than virtual learning, for me. It was boring, dark, quiet, and everyday was exactly the same as the day before. I am so happy we get to return to the way things were before last year, but we still do have lots of precautions for covid-19. I'm just glad that people are finally getting things back on their feet, and things are returning to normal(well, at least more normal than last year), and we can all appreciate in-person school for what it really is.
• 2021-01-07

  Covid-19

  My first memory of Covid-19 was in late December of 2019. I was sitting on my couch watching TV when I heard my dad in the other room talking to my mom about how the new "coronavirus" desiese was getting worse in China. I was shocked at first about what he was talking about, so I went into the next room to ask him what was going on. He explained to me how there was an epidemic going on in China, and how some people have died. It all seemed very new and since it was all the way in China I wasn't very concerned with it other than thinking that it must be scary for residents of China. Fast forward a few weeks when we get back to school, lots of kids in the hallways were making jokes about the disease that was spreading, and were saying things like, "Don't forget to use hand sanitizer cuz of corona." Up until mid march the jokes kept on running, and the epidemic in China became more and more of a big deal. Until the night before march 14, 2020 everything was still a joke, and the rumor of us doing online school from home was still a running joke. But on the night of march 13 we all got an email telling us that we'd be doing virtual school from home for the next two weeks. The following Monday we started online school, and we all thought it would just be for two weeks. I was up in my room all day, and we only got short breaks in between classes. The first week everyone seemed to enjoy it was we had to use zoom calls for our class periods. The second week of school everyone including myself started not liking the idea of virtual school as much. Even though we got to sleep in later, people were sick of sitting at a desk almost all day long. Soon enough they extended our time we would be doing school from home because of a pandemic for longer. The coronavirus had spread to the U.S. and most people rarely left the house except to go to the grocery store because everything was closed. Whenever my mom or dad would go to the store they would wear a mask and gloves to make sure they didn't catch any germs. Lots of other people did the same. By this time almost the entire country was in lockdown. It had grown into a full-blown pandemic; other countries like Italy we also bombarded with the panic of Covid-19. Everything was a complete disaster just by mid-april. I had no idea when we would be going back to school, or when things would return to normal. I still don't as a matter of fact. by this time I thought we'd go back in may, but we didn't. In the first couple weeks of may, just a few days before my 13th birthday, everyone at this point hated online school, it was dreaded by children across the country. This gradually got worse and worse, teenagers' mental heath was tanking by a landslide. Quarantine was now taking over my life completely. Most days I would sit in my room the entire day even on weekends since we couldn't go anywhere. Throughout June was probably the worst moth for my metal heath, and I think many others would agree. Saying we were bored would be an understatement; I wasn't depressed much like a quite a few of my other friends ,as far as I'm concerned, but it felt like all of our happiness and livelihood had been taken from us since what we started lockdown. Soon after, in July things started to open up again, the cases for covid-19 were getting lower(which was good), and people basically assumed quarantine was over. The nest month since things were opening up previously we all thought we would go back to school, but a few days before school was supposed to start we were informed that we wouldn't be going back, and we had to continue with online school. I was extremely disappointed, and I thought hopefully we'd go back by at least October. The following months through Christmas break we stayed in online school, and almost nothing happened. I spent my days the exact same as the day before I would sit in my room do school and then look on my phone or listen to music(mostly One Direction, The Beatles, and 80's music). My life became dark, boring, and quiet. By this time everyone was so fed up with quarantine, since we had been in lockdown for the past 9 months. Even Christmas felt different this year; usually I'm super excited and this year I almost didn't even care about the holiday's and I can't explain why. I'm currently writing this on January 7, 2021 at 9:05 pm. We've luckily gone back to school yesterday for the first time in ten months. There are plenty of safety precautions to make sure none of us get sick like: wearing a mask, social distancing( staying 6 feet away from people), and there are even certain ways to we have to walk around hallways and the campus to keep us in order. I can already feel a change in myself since we went back yesterday. It already feels like things are getting better now that we don't have to do virtual school with zoom calls for classes. I'm also really glad I get to see my friends, and hopefully make some new ones. If there's anything I've learned from being a part of the current pandemic it's that you can't give up or give in to other things going on with the world or even within your own life. No matter how tuff things you have to remember who you are and what you want to be. If anyone in the distant future is reading this I want them to know that, and how lucky they are to be apart of something as wonderful as life can be. I found myself more often than never longing for the past hoping for answers, only to find out the past is inside all of us, and even when the hardships of reality kick in you have to remember how amazing it is to get to experience something as rare and beautiful as life is. So don't take things for granted and appreciate every moment because you'll never know when something as mind-boggling as a world-wide pandemic will happen to you. Long story short never give up on your hopes and fantasies; it might just be the thing you'll need the most.
• 2020-12-14

  Covid-19

  It was the night before March 13, 2020, and I was in my room listening to music; when my mom got an email saying that we were going to be doing online school for two weeks. I was really excited to not have to go to school, and that I got to stay at home. I wasn't shocked because people at my school had been talking about us having to stay at home, but I definitely can say that I wasn't really aware of what about to happen. The next day at school we were just going over how online school was gonna work, and our new schedule and whatnot. The following week was our first week of online school, and I'd say most people like myself enjoyed it. I was glad that I didn't have to wake up early, and I got to stay in sweatpants all day. The funny thing about lockdown is that nobody really knew how long we were going to be doing it. We thought it was really only going to be about 2 weeks. Soon after we finished our second week of online school, we got another email saying that we would be doing school from home for longer than we expected. Throughout April, everyone started to become really bored at home, and nobody could go out because all the stores were closed. Most people rarely even went to the supermarket. I was extremely bored, and spent most days doing nothing after school was over. Lots of people also started to get sick of zoom and I'd say about more than half the school was started to get annoyed with online school, including me. The only interesting thing to do was watch tv, and the amount of quarantine memes was getting to be a lot. Soon after April, everyone thought that we'd be going back in may, but sadly we didn't and the following month of quarantine was really when people started losing their minds. Everyone was so sick of lockdown, and literally did nothing all day long. I found myself just watching tiktok's and YouTube 24/7. The following month of June people were even more bored but luckily things started to open up again like clothing stores, restaurants, even the mall. I just assumed that quarantine was over, and that things would go back to normal. Until, a few weeks later when they started closing things back up in L.A.(which is where I live). The worst part is that we were supposed to be going back to school in August, and now everyone was concerned that it wasn't going to happen. A few days before school started we were notified that we sadly weren't going back on campus. We all were sad, but we just assumed that we'd be going back after halloween, or the election (neither of them happened). I was so incredibly bored and honestly really confused about life in general. In the first 3 months of school. I hated online learning, and I had lost all of my social skills, and I had literally run out of things to watch on tv. Finally, a few days after the election my mom got an email that we were going back to school. I was excited to be going back, but also nervous. My school had started thing about a month earlier called wellness camps where we would go on Wednesday with our class and so some activities with our classmates just for an hour. Even just then, it felt super awkward to be back at school, so at this point nobody even knew how to talk to each other since it had been so long since we'd seen people from school. It's currently mid-december and we are going back soon. I hope things will get better soon:)