Twenty years from now, when we middle schoolers enter our adulthood, we may look back upon this time with mixed memories. The annual growth rings of year 2020 will be exceptionally different. For me, my growth ring comes much fatter and wider because I have eaten more, slept more, and exercised less. COVID-19 has changed me and my community in many ways. First, it forced all of us middle schoolers to stay home, but the bright side is that we have more time to help our family. Second, the pandemic causes us to rely more on technology. Finally, the world community has had to learn to bond as a team.
When life gives us lemons, we make
lemonade, and add some honey. Difficult times challenge us and how we respond
to those times determine our strength. During this pandemic, my grandma has
felt as if she has been confined to prison. She lives with no company and fears
stepping foot outside to catch the dreadful contagion. She goes through her
daily routines and most often feels lonely. Not only is she an innocent
prisoner in her apartment, she is held as a prisoner in her own mind. I have
been entertaining her through video calls every day since the start of the
pandemic back in March. She feels less lonely when she sees me, and bonding
with her has become easier; we discuss her worries and when we finish
conversing, we give one another virtual kisses. I even made a YouTube video encouraging
kids to reach out to grandparents (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07DY64BZXLE). During
quarantine, my parents especially appreciated my cooking and delivering healthy
lunch to their desks when they were busy with work. In fact, I learned how to
whip up a variety of healthy choices from chicken noodle soup to grilled cheese
sandwiches.
COVID-19 may have closed my school and the
playgrounds, but technology has opened a new window out into the world. I am
more grateful for technology, and I have also learned how to better leverage
the tool. One hundred years ago, the Spanish Flu devastated the world. At that time,
people were asked to stay indoors. School was entirely halted, with obviously
no distance learning. Although COVID-19 might have separated us from the realm
of traditional learning, we must be thankful that time has found us in the
digital age. During the summer, I registered free classes at Wave Learning
Festival, a non-profit created by college students. While COVID might have eliminated
most face-to-face interactions, Wave Learning and Zoom have connected me with
students not only in the US, but also from the UK, the Philippines, and the
United Arab Emirates. This global digital interaction exposed me to new
instructors, international classmates, and I have realized that the would world
faces this plight together. Borders do not stop a pandemic, but the world can
open its borders and fight this scourge together. In this experience, I have
not only learned from my instructors, but my eyes have opened to the fact that
the whole world faces this plight together, not separated through borders.
Hardship brings a community together. Even
before COVID-19 hit America, the aunties and uncles from my community collected donations and purchased masks to help the efforts China. Three months later, these same aunties and uncles purchased a
shipment of masks from China and donated them to local hospitals. Because of
COVID-19, my community has become so much more active, generous, and caring.
The growth ring for me in year 2020 is not
only fatter and wider, but I have grown in compassion, generosity, and
appreciation for the goodness of others. The growth ring for my community is stronger
and tougher, with a realization that we face COVID-19 collectively as a team,
and as a united world.
(Special thanks to Ms. Cugini for the nice comments and suggestions.)
