By Sienna, Age 9

It was just like any other Sunday when my dad turned the TV on. He clicked the YouTube button then scrolled down to “Meet the Press.” As expected, my little brother asked if we could watch something else. Dad said, “No.” Still, we paid attention while the news presenter talked a little. Then he said, “There is a virus spreading. You are not going to like what you hear, but we are going to have to quarantine.” For a while, I didn’t think Covid would be a part of my life, but that was about to change. One day, we were coming home from our grandma’s house when she got a text from our parents. “We’re home, mom just tested positive.”  Grandma read it out loud, her voice trembling. Once I heard, my heart pounded out of my chest. I froze, my little brother was crying. When we got home, Mom couldn’t come out of her room. I was so scared, all the people on TV get really sick after they have Covid. I felt like I couldn’t survive without her. That night I stayed up really late. It was the scariest moment of my life.

By Grace, Age 9

If there was a word to describe the pandemic it would be: lonely. Or is it just me? It’s been one and a half years stuck at your home looking at a screen. We could still go out, but chances were risky. We never saw what was coming when COVID hit. It was suddenly one day when our teacher said, “Tomorrow we are going to go online.” We all thought it was just for 2 weeks, but 2 weeks never came. Two weeks became one month, one month eventually became one year. I rarely got to see my friends in person, the only time I got to see them was on a screen. We pretty much got really techy, we knew better than our parents and let’s just say our teachers too. It was really strange to me at first. We woke up, opened our computer and went on Zoom. It would end at 12:30 and there was no school on Friday. It was weird, it’s like suddenly the fire stopped burning to keep us warm, leaving us cold and alone. It was like losing half of your heart, half of the people you loved, lost. Lonely, afraid, emptiness. 

By Macey, Age 9

I can’t remember much about the day it all happened, but what I can remember is that I didn’t want to say goodbye to my friends. The one thing I can fully remember about Covid 19 is the Pandemic Patio. It was a few days after Covid struck and school closed when I had the idea.

It was a hot, sunny day and like always, I was bored, and hungry too. So, I decided to make a restaurant in my backyard. I knew I wouldn’t have too many customers because of Covid, but I hoped it would be lots of fun.

When I started the menu, I made sure everything someone might decide to order was there, including: sodas, sandwiches, guacamole and chips, snacks like apple and banana slices, strawberries and so on. When I finished the menu, I set up the backyard and put out some picnic blankets and chairs. It was finally time to gather everyone in the backyard and start to make the food.

My family had no other choice because of quarantine. There was nowhere else to go. It turned out that everyone loved the food, a lot. The world may never be so simple again.

By Naiesha, Age 12

It’s Friday, March 13th, 2020, when the school bell rings. “Yay! Spring break is finally here!” I yelled with joy. March was a marble month, and on the last day before spring break started, I asked one of my friends, “Can I exchange this marble with one of yours, when we return from spring break?” The answer was a yes. I was so excited for spring break to end and to return to school, once again. Sadly, that never happened because…the Coronavirus cases began to inflame. “When will we go back to school?” I asked my mother, one day. She told me the school will reopen on April 15th; a few days later, the date was May 5th. Sooner than I could say Coronavirus, distance learning began. We picked up our laptops from the school and had all meetings and assignments over Microsoft Teams. At least, Teams had a chat. One of my many friends said, “Even without us seeing each other, we will always be best friends.” I was optimistic, all the way through. We still had chat, to talk with each other. We still had meetings, to see each other. The only thing we did not have was in-person school.

By Naol, Age 11

I have been to three other schools, but at least they were a little ordinary. The year of my most recent school contained the biggest change of my life with the pandemic. I remember the day in March, when the principal announced that we were all going to be learning remotely after the extended spring break. Before, I didn’t think that it would be so bad. But after the break, I was hit by a cold splash of reality and realized that it would be the worst part of my year. The following months were a blur, consisting of only school and homework online. A year later, I was graduating elementary school and was going to a new school again. The graduation day was fun, but the hardest part of it all was leaving my friends. I was able to say goodbye, though. Throughout my three other schools, I have never experienced the change in that year, but I got through it.

So now I hope that in my new school, and the future, I will find a way to get through anything I come across.

So now I hope that in my new school, and the future, I will find a way to get through anything I come across.

By Georgia, Age 9

It was nearing the end of March, when one day my parents told me and my siblings that we couldn’t go to school, or really anywhere, because of this thing they were calling Covid-19. At first I didn’t really get it, but as they explained, I started to understand what Covid-19 was and why everything was shutting down. For a while, we were just at home. Then people started to realize that Covid-19 wasn’t a one week thing and that’s when we started online school.  When we first started online school, I sort of liked it. I got to hang out at home and I could ask my parents for help. But, eventually I started to get bored, I missed my friends and my siblings were driving me crazy!  After a few months, they finally let us go back to school. But not too long after we were back to online school and it’s been going on like this, switching from online to in person school for the last 2 years.

By Reva, Age 9

I was reading in my room, ecstatic it was Friday. I had endless options and lots of
free time! Not having to be on the computer all day tomorrow made me relieved. Since March 2020, I was doing online school. I missed going in person and being with my friends. I heard Papa calling for me, so I ran downstairs.

“I wanted to tell you that you are getting your COVID vaccine,” Papa explained.

“So much for a fun Friday,” I thought to myself.

On the drive to the pharmacy, my stomach was in knots. We pulled into the
parking lot and walked inside the pharmacy. I sat in the chair, closed my eyes and
hoped and dreamed about visiting my Mami and Papi and eating Gulab jamuns,
plucking oranges from my aunt’s tree in San Diego, playing with my cousins, and
visiting my Dada and Dadi in India. I felt the pinch fade away. “Done already?” I
asked.

“Yes! You ready for some Dominoes?” Papa asked.

“Of course!” I answered excitedly.

Even though my Friday was off to a petrifying start, the thought of pizza
made me dream about my Friday and future plans all over again!

By Avery, Age 9

It all started out looking like a perfectly normal day. I was driven to school, I finished my homework, and was ready for the day. As I took my first step into my classroom, I could tell everyone was buzzing about something. When I walked in the first thing someone said to me was, “Have you heard about covid-nineteen?” My parents told me nothing about it, so I just went with it. Once we all quieted down, our teacher told us that a new virus had struck and we had to go on a complete lockdown for two weeks at the most. So we were asked if we wanted to take our things from our desk, home. I opted not to,(big mistake!). So when the school bell rang, I grabbed my headphones, charger, and left school, saying goodbye to my friends. Thinking I’d see them soon. Little did I know, that would be the last time I saw them for a while…   

By Nathan, Age 12

I woke up to a bright morning and looked out the window. For one second, I thought about going outside to play catch with my brother. But the moment that thought entered my mind, I pushed it away. I had class in 30 minutes and had to get ready for it. When I looked at my friends in the Zoom, I felt melancholy. I would never see them again because this was 5th grade, and once we graduated, everyone would be going to different schools. The day was slow as usual. The past few months had been making every minute feel like an hour. Once class finished, I was about to play outside but realized I had homework to do. I promised myself that after I finished my reading, I would go straight out. I didn’t. The assignment was took too long, and once I finished, I had to get ready for bed. Before I went to bed, I remembered the sunny morning I had today and how it was wasted. I went to bed knowing that tomorrow would be a new and better day.

By Emma, Age 12

I remember being so excited for a planned trip with my family to NYC. My mom was reading news about a virus on the other side of the world and decided to cancel our trip. I didn’t see what the big deal was. A week later, the whole world shut down! It felt really strange.

My 10th birthday was the following week…we celebrated with burgers and cake but no party. I kept myself busy sewing masks for family and friends with my sewing machine. It was really hard to find elastic. We had to take elastic out of my skirts, pajama pants and scrunchies in order to have enough. 

I was sad that our library was closed and we didn’t know when it would open again. We started listening to audio books and reading books on-line. Covid was very difficult but we spent our time taking long walks with our puppy, baking lots of treats, writing letters to friends and starting a vegetable garden in our yard.

Through all the struggle, I learned a valuable lesson…slowing down and doing things that filled my soul made my life richer. I feel better, happier and stronger now.

Through all the struggle, I learned a valuable lesson…slowing down and doing things that filled my soul made my life richer. I feel better, happier and stronger now.