My New Passion

By Riley, Age 11

The pandemic has changed my life in many ways. After the first big wave, we were in person once again and I was in a class with people I didn’t usually hang out with. But after bonding over books, we decided to write our own. Just when we had finished planning, the numbers shot up and we were in distance-learning again. When my friends went back, I decided to stay online for a while before going in-person. I was disappointed at first, but the other five girls welcomed me and we had so much fun laughing together. My friends called me every recess to work on the story—this is when my liking grew to a passion. We worked for so long planning, developing characters, and coming up with game changing twists. When I went back to school I was so happy to have more time to work with them. Now in fifth grade, each day I write and keep getting better.

I know the pandemic hasn’t been ideal, but it has helped me discover my passion, create new best friends, and figure out what I want to be when I grow up, an author.