COVID-19 has definitely altered my daily life. I am having a hard time adjusting to online school. I have never been good at managing my time, but now it is crucial that I learn. Now that I am no longer attending school physically, I watch my siblings everyday. As a result, I have fallen behind in several of my classes, including this one. It upsets me that every teacher assigns about 2-3 things everyday. Despite the fact that I do not learn anything from it, I feel extremely overwhelmed- especially with AVID! AVID still expects us to turn in binder checks every week and do tutorials. To me, it seems inconsiderate to ask for so much since we are still trying to adapt to our normal classes let alone our elective. I would appreciate it if they were to start assigning things little by little instead of ambushing us with so much work because COVID-19 has impacted the roles we play in our family. A lot of us have to watch our younger siblings and take care of our homes, which are both time consuming. I do not seek pity I just want to teachers to be more flexible and understanding. I also hate the fact that AP exams were online this year. I hate that a couple of FRQs determined whether or not I would receive college credit. I feel like I did well in APUSH, but I am not as confident with HUG. I would be lucky if I passed. I do not think a couple of FRQs can accurately reflect a years worth of knowledge. APHUG was one of the best and most interesting classes I have taken at GGHS, but I am afraid my FRQs were not enough to even earn me a 3 because I am not stong in writing. I was hoping that I could prove myself through other parts of the test such as MC, but obviously I could not. I also do not think its fair that some students got easier prompts.

The day of the AP exam is usually a huge celebration, where I decorate the room for a giant pre-party, with every kids' name on the wall, cupcakes, brownies, balloons, confetti - the works. It is always a surprise for them - then we take a picture in our matching t-shirts, they go test, and afterwards (around lunch), they come back and we have a post party. This year, this could not happen. I made each of my 175 students a TikTok, and then we had a zoom after the test. The celebration is usually one of my favorite days of the year, as it is so important to me to celebrate my kids' achievement, regardless of what the score says in July. It feels so empty not having that moment together.

These past months were mentally and physically draining for me. This pandemic has ruined relationships but also founded new relationships with new people. I miss school, I miss being in class, and I miss seeing my friends. Being at home all day and not being able to see my friend has taken a toll on me and has made me feel so lonely like freshman year when I was new to public school. This pandemic has made me realize that school is awesome. The idea of being able to learn through teacher-student interactions and friends has made me miss school even more. Not only school, but, sports. Being a huge NBA fan, my favorite player will always be Lebron James and hearing the head director of the NBA saying that the season will most likely be postponed has hurt me emotionally because I would love to see Lebron raise that trophy and scream "this is for you kobe." It also sucks knowing one of the best parts in life which is high school, is being postponed due to a virus.

This meme helps to describe the demand to reopen the country for their personal needs while disregarding the importance of social distancing.

Being at home all day isn't fun at all. It is for certain that I miss my normal life. Now that this pandemic has almost taken over the US, we have no other option than to stay home and keep ourselves preoccupied. There is one important thing that we must do. We must fix our broken families. It is common for families to have their bad moments and have people in the family not necessarily agree with everyone's actions but that must end now. For any broken family we must take this time to heal the wounds in the family and come together to accept one another's flaws and or differences. As a human I make mistakes and I do argue with my siblings and parents but that needs to change. I am not the only one who may have problems with their families at times. Sometimes we just feel as if we aren't living up to the expectations or standards of our families but as I said, we need to take this time to fix that and heel any problems. We must come together and have respect for one another and have tolerance. I have not taken the time to sit down with my family and simply restore what was before but I will as everyone should and stay positive, only hoping for the better.

The pandemic has not hit my area to hard, I have not experienced much difficulty besides with the food that I eat and the access to the gym. When my family goes to the local store for groceries and supplies it is limited in what I can buy but overall, we manage the necessities. My real hardship comes with access to the gym, I truly miss the gym, there were so many weights and machines, it allowed me to...basically edit my body through time and hard work and I thoroughly enjoyed that feeling of process, that I was reaching my goal. Although due to the COVID-19 situation I cannot go to the local gym and therefore must rely on home workouts with a limited variety of weights, this restriction makes it much harder to keep progress up and get the results I am working towards. This situation of constantly being at home makes me want to sit and laze about but as long as one keeps the mind set on progress, even if slower, they can make it. I encourage others to pursue their goals as much as they can, make the best of a bad situation and start an inner journey, pick up hobbies such as painting, gardening, or reading, I know for sure that this time has allowed me to read and really understand literature more. Pick up upon hobbies that don't pose a threat to others and the time will pass and you will gain much from this as I am doing now. This time is difficult yes, but altogether, pales in comparison to others during this time.

Like everybody else, I have recently spent the majority of my days at home. I can say that I have had my fair share of ups and downs, some that I never even saw coming, but I think that there is a lot that I can take from my time in isolation. Of course, I really miss some things about my normal life such as talking to my friends every day at school and practicing for my school's track and field team, but in the end, I realize that I have to fix my head onto the present and do what I need to do right now until the whole COVID-19 pandemic blows over. I joined my school's track and field jumps team this year, and as season approached, I was stoked to see where my performance would stand. I actually felt as if I had found a hobby that I genuinely enjoyed doing, and even better, it was productive too. Its hard knowing that something so out of my control impacted my life as well as the lives of those around me so much, but at the same time, I have to remember that there are countless other people that have it way worse than I do. I would say that I am upset about not being able to experience track season this year, but I can always look forward to the next, or at least the possibly of there being a "next season". As for some other student athletes, they have it worse. Many seniors did not get to have their final moments in their athletic career, and worse, they won't get the graduation they looked forward to. It is sad when you realize that so many people have been affected by this pandemic, but it is important to look forward in the face of adversity. I admit that I spent way too much time complaining about what I won't get to experience because of the corona virus, but I recently began to see the lesson that this quarantine is trying to teach me, to teach all of us. For anyone awake during these uncertain times, it seems as if the year somehow gets worse and worse every month. As disaster rears its head, we must act appropriately in order to turn each moment of misfortune into a learning experience. I am grateful for what this quarantine has helped me realize, because with all of this time reflecting, I feel like I was given the time to really think about my past and my regrets. It would have been easy for me to say that this pandemic has made me miserable, but I want to bring light to such a dark time by acknowledging the positives I have been obtaining from this quarantine. Although many of us have lost a lot, there is always hope for new opportunities in the future.

For many Americans in the middle of this pandemic, not being able to go outside understandably sucks. Personally, I also wish that I could go back outside and talk with friends after being inside for so long. But, I have a friend to stick with me in the middle of this disaster of a year- called video games. They're a life-saver, and have saved me from many hours of boredom, and even allow me to be with friends in a way I can't in real life.

I feel like 2020 has been the year of major downfalls; every month has had some type of huge incident that has shaken up social media and the world. The pandemic has shown the World what human nature is like in desperate times; Riots that force cities that open up their hair salons and beaches because they believe that going outside is more important than being quarantined and protecting our young children and elderly. Although I miss my friends and I miss going out and I miss normal social interaction, I have not yet stooped down to that level. The quarantine and self teaching tactics that my school has imposed on me has led me to procrastinate more on my works. It did not hit me that AP Tests were rapidly approaching until the week of. It did not hit me that finals are slowly approaching as the year comes to a close. I have many friends that have begun to ignore work, now that my school has implemented the ‘pass/fail’ system. No one likes this system, but no one tries to tell the school otherwise. As for me, I have spent my time reveling in self pity and watching anime. However, in watching the various characters and story lines, I have come to the conclusion that I do not want to be someone that wallows in self pity. The characters in the shows, albeit fictional, represent various aspects of my life that I want to better; from being more social to enhancing my skill set, the possibilities are endless as the quarantine goes on. The photo I submitted has impacted me, as it is both promoting the usages of masks and the characters in that particular show always strive to be better than everyone else. There are also many other shows that have pushed me into becoming better. Despite being sheltered from the outside world, I think I can benefit from the quarantine through improving myself and my self-esteem, so that when people see me next time I am a new and improved version of myself. Many other people have that same mindset, doing various things to make themselves look better when the quarantine is over. From dying their hair to various colours, to shaving all of their hair/cutting bangs, and even working out more often in order to come back to society with an amazing body, everyone can agree that they are trying out new things in order to expand their horizons and to cope with not being able to visit their friends as often.

I have been in online school for over 2 months now, it is strange and a huge adjustment. It has been a huge challenge mentally. To go from seeing people and your teachers to seeing them through tiny squares on a screen, those screens often lagging or glitching to keep you from being able to hear them. Which is causing flaws in our learning since we can not fully hear our teachers or fellow classmates. But worst of all is feeling alone since during these times are teachers are not checking up on us to see if we understand the work or to see if we are all OK. We had AP tests a few weeks ago, these were odd and felt like college board was doing it just so they didn't have to refund every student, it was weird not having the same AP day jitters you would usually get. I feel like students are getting almost more work now that they are home and are getting assignments on the weekends for multiple classes which is causing them to feel like there is school 24/7 and it is mentally draining and feels like we have no time to relax in this stressful and anxious time.

Since the suspension of in- person classes, my grades have suffered tremendously. The learning experience is completely different and all the due dates and quiz times are hard to keep up with. It was so much easier to handle my school work when there was a physical place to go to everyday where all learning would take place. The object i have attached is a video from the social media platform TikTok that describes how the pandemic has affected my education. During quarantine i have been on this app a lot and find comfort in the videos i see about the coronavirus and quarantine, it reminds me that everyone around the world is going through the same thing and we are all united in our experiences.

Right now, things have been tiring. With all the chaos and protests going on, it's really hard to just think about schoolwork. I hope that things will eventually end soon (happily) and I hope that all the protesters get out safely. Because our people is so fed up, the pandemic doesn't even faze us anymore. What happened to George Floyd was despicable and people are done waiting. As for staying at home, the only thing that bothers me is the absence of my teachers. My friends are cool but social media exists for a reason, I'd be lying if I said I missed my friends.

The COVID-19 has affected us all tremendously, including oursleves the students. Some who wanted to strive in their spring sports, live out their last high school year and be able to walk across the stage and say that they finally did it, all the hours of homework, the football games, the dances, the tests, procrasination, drama and time they put was worth it. But on March 13, a friday little did we know that in Garden Grove, our whole community would change tremendously. As the days passed by, we were being transmitted to more online work, more restrictions, more work, and take more precautions. At first, as being a student myself, I was not worried about it at all and was happy at the fact that we were not going to school for two weeks. But two weeks turned into a month, then 2 months, and until the end of the school year. As a Junior in high schoolm that changed my academic life more. I was not able to take the SAT, i was not able to take my AP exam in school, finish junior year. This whole pandemic has shaped now the way we look at life, and let us see the things that we so call hate like school , is something that connects us to peers and gives us a better opportunity at learning the material.

Okay, this whole coronavirus got me feeling both anxious and relaxed at the same time. I know it’s contradicting, but the reason I feel this way is because an immature part of me wishes this pandemic to reach something higher so it would give it that movie-style feel to it. Sort of in the way the movie “World War Z” depicted that a virus from China had gotten out of control and went to wipe out most of humanity by turning it into fast, zombie like things that only seeked to find an uninfected human to bite, and move on to the next. But then again, I come to my senses and realize that it’s not what I want; I don’t want the destruction of the world as I know it. And even though I know this pandemic won’t go to those great lengths, I just sort of want my “normal” life back, that is, back in school, back with my friends or whatever. On the other hand, I feel relaxed too, as the pressure of the monotonous school routine is not there anymore, I feel free.

During this quarantine, I've picked up new hobbies like working out or making new food. I've focused on myself a lot and done things to keep me sane during this time of uncertainty.

This quarantine experience has been interesting to deal with. Ever since the stay at home order was issued, I haven't been doing much at home. While I still have school and a few other stuff, I can't do much. I was looking forward to swim season to start because, well I love swimming. I was able to go to practice for about a month until the school closed. We were only able to play a few games against ourselves and had one home game. I was pretty bummed that we didn't have an away game, but it's better than getting exposed to the virus. Am I disappointed that the swim season ended? Yes. If I was a senior I would be pretty bummed out about that, but since I'm not, then hopefully maybe next year. Going back to staying at home all I've been doing is doing schoolwork, chores, and some games. Fun right. I would try to go outside, but I'm not sure if I want to. But there was something that I needed to do and that was to study for my AP exams. Since this year's AP exams were going to be online and were an open note, I didn't know how I was supposed to study. About a month before the exam I was questioning how I would study, but with some help with my teachers, I was able to find a way until the day of the exam. I was scared because I felt like I wasn't ready and also scared that my score wouldn't be submitted and I'd have to take it again in June. But to my surprise, I feel like I did fine (not the best, but good enough for me). Honestly, nothing, as changed for me since even before the stay at home order, was issued I was already inside. However, I enjoyed the feeling that I was able to go somewhere and that I wasn't forced to stay home 24/7. I know that things won't go back to normal right away (even with the vaccine) and everyone's lives are going to be effective, but we will all be waiting that all of this will be over.

Kyle Kuzma posted a picture of recent events that said “this virus been around for 400+ years. Still no vaccine”. This talks about how as people have have chosen to ignore the disease that was already among us. We are taught that this nation is supposed to be the example that every other nation must follow. In history we are told that this nation is built on principles and that “ all men are created equal “ and have “ certain unalienable rights ”, but as history teaches us, that was a lie. Time and time again, we have seen riots, protests, violence, uprisings. We have seen people being discriminated against and killed for something they have no control over. How mush more violence do we have to seen in order for there to be change? This isn’t something new. We have seen it before. Slaves revolting against their “ masters ” for rights they should’ve had as human beings. We had a whole war over it. In fact, we don’t even have to go back that far, Martin Luther King Jr., The Black Panther Organization, Malcom X. These are people who have given their lives for the simple equal rights promised when this nation was built. They gave their lives and it still wasn’t enough. 1992, Rodney King was beaten by police officers and it was caught on film and those officers were found not guilty, Latasha Harlins was shot and killed by a store owner and the jury didn’t rejected a harder sentence. Riots destroyed LA, people and businesses died. It took that in order for action to be taken. Protesters riot, loot, and assemble to be heard. There is no rules to protest, there is no right way to protest. That is what a protest is. I am ashamed that it is a constant issue in which the US does not learn from their mistakes. Let’s not repeat history again. That is the point of learning about history, for us to see the mistakes made and grow to be a better society. There doesn’t need to be more death, more violence. It’s time to treat people right. It’s time for change.

My story is Covid-19 has affected me a lot both mentally and physically. Before quarantine, I consider myself to be a super productive person until this lockdown, I found myself sleeping at 3 a.m. and shamelessly starting my day at 10 p.m. Due to this sleeping pattern, I’ve lost a lot of weight and even question if I’m anorexic. Having a bad sleeping habit is not enough for me, I began to procrastinate and never had the motivations to do my work. I missed my friends and really wanted to go out again. Overall, this pandemic experience took a great great toll on my daily life (which could’ve be fixed easily if I wasn’t born lazy).

This is the story of the riots and protests following the murder of George Floyd by 4 police officers. This shows that even in a pandemic people are still willing to fight the unjust and racist police system, even preparing to get tear gassed during the protests and filming it all to account for any injustice acts by the police. It especially shows the reality of having such an incompetent, unjust, racist president at this time; he is someone who refers to white protesters protesting the stay at home orders as "very nice people" while referring to black protesters fighting for human rights and equality "THUGS." Not only this but he publicly stated on twitter that the police are allowed to shoot protesters, threatening them basically.

Every year there is a gathering held by an organization named WGI in Dayton Ohio for drumlines across the US to perform one last time. This is also the yearly championships that everyone has looked forward to the most because they may be able to see their friends from distant states. Also with the fact that only people the age of 22 or under are able to participate in these groups makes it even more saddening as they have to give up their last year being able to perform music with their closest friends. Although this age limit has been raised another year for all members of these groups from this year, this still doesn't make up for the fact that many people have already set plans for after they finish as well. Overall all these people have to give up all their hard work trying to audition for groups and long hours of practice. Not being able to have one final moment with their closest peers as sometimes people aren't able to attend high school together and have no other way of seeing them again. This virus has taken so much away from people whether it's the last moments of high school or the last time being able to perform and watch your closest friends perform.

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.

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.

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.