Covid affected my life in many ways. But mostly, Covid has affected my school life, and I want to share my experience during this pandemic.

The 2020 school year was almost over; Just a couple months left. No one could concentrate on work, and everyone was daydreaming about how awesome their summer vacation would be. So when the news suddenly started talking about a virus that had started in China, it didn’t matter to us. But slowly, the news changed their story. Now the virus started to become a big deal. They called it Covid-19. Schools shut down, face masks and hand sanitizers were practically rationed, and our homes seemed to be the only place that was safe. Their was fear everywhere, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people haunted us.

But life still continued, and Webex became the answer to quarantine. The amount of screen time in the daily life of a fifth grader increased – by a lot. But that wasn’t the problem; Sure, there were definitely more than a few glitches in our chromebooks, though that was to be expected. The problem was the mental impact this had on everyone; Most people, myself included, changed – emotionally or behaviorally. I was dealing with a lot of stress and anxiety, but nothing could be done about it. And there were too many questions; When would all this end? When would we be able to go back to school? Would we ever see our friends again?

I slowly became familiar with the routine: Wake up, log onto Webex, struggle to pay attention, experience glitches, and do boring online homework that had nothing to do with what we are learning about. I just could not concentrate. Things might be better if school just got cancelled. But quarantine wouldn’t let us go outside, enjoy the sunlight, be with friends – which summer is all about. Instead, all we had for entertainment was more screens; phones, video games, TV. I started to become lazy by eating more junk food, and having my eyes on a screen all day. I felt isolated from the world, my friends, and even my family. At the time, I thought it was the worst year of my life.

Then I realized that the people around me were going through the same difficulties. I missed out on fifth grade graduation, going on vacation in the summer, and even my first day of middle school. But everyone else did too. Some people might have even missed their first day of high school, or college, and I felt lucky that things were slowly working out for me; even if it wasn’t the way I hoped.

Half of the sixth grade school year was on Zoom – a better platform than Webex. The technical difficulties still continued, but it wasn’t nearly as bad. Things got better, because they set up a hybrid learning schedule; Our class divided into two cohorts, which took turns going to school every other day.

About a month later, they took it even further, and combined all the cohorts so that everyone could go to school everyday. We still had to wear masks, but at least we could hang out with all of our friends.

We got to participate in all the activities that wouldn’t have been as fun on Zoom. My mental health improved, and so did other people’s. Just when I thought things couldn’t possibly get better – they did. Because the Covid-19 vaccine was created. Slowly, all the adults, including my parents, became vaccinated, and I would too once I was 12. The coronavirus would never completely go away, but a lot of people can now be saved from it.

If there is anything that my experience during the pandemic has taught me, it is to have patience. Things will work out, even if it isn’t the way you hoped they would.