COVID-19 definitely affected everybody in both positive and negative ways.
On the positive side, being in quarantine allowed me to have more time to try new things such as sewing, reading (even more than I used to do), practicing my clarinet, and also learning how to cook more dishes.
With the pandemic, I found a peaceful place to read in my backyard where I can hear birds sing beautifully. I have a big tree that many types of wild birds, such as cardinals, house finches, and American goldfinches stand on.
I had time to plant with my dad which gave me a big interest in agriculture.
During the pandemic, I became a housemaid. I started to help my mom with the house chores. Due to her lupus, her physical activity was drastically reduced, but gratefully I was there to help her and be with her every time the disease made her feel helpless.
The lockdown did have its disadvantages and advantages. I am confident that the good sides are the ones that matter the most.
During the pandemic, I started to watch the news. By watching the news, I realized how interesting journalism is. Journalists can travel and interview diverse groups of people. I believe that journalists have the power to influence the public. In the future, I want to be able to inspire people just as Paola Rojas, Denise Merker, and Maria Ressa do. The first two are Mexican journalists and Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist.
During a virtual class, my film/TV teacher told me that there was a journalism club at the school. I decided to join and eventually wrote articles about many different topics. This included topics such as the top five feminine authors, why the COVID-19 vaccine is secure, and how international women’s day was celebrated globally.
If the pandemic would not have happened, I would not be in the journalism workshop learning how to improve my journalistic skills such as writing and interviewing.
On the negative side, I do miss my routine of going to school in person. Of all my classmates, I only had one friend, but it was nice talking to one person of my age at least. I remember I would stay a couple of minutes before the dancing club to talk to the school staff.
Additionally, in school, I used to be in the Mexican folklore group which was fun and it is something I do miss. For the last two years in middle school, I enjoyed dancing and being the leader of the group. It was delightful to teach people the Mexican way of celebrating special days by showing the traditional dances.
I joined the Mexican Folklorico group because I wanted to know the traditional dances from where I and my family come from. In the group, we would use special cloth for the dances such as long skirts and boots so we could do a step named “Zapateado.”
We would have a song for each state from Mexico and dance each song with a different cloth. For the state of Jalisco we would dance to songs such as “La Negra”, “Jarabe Tapatio”, and “Guadalajara.” Then for the state of Sinaloa, we would dance to the songs “Toro Mambo” and “Paloma Blanca” with white dresses and for Veracruz, we would dance to “La Bruja” and “La Bamba”.
I am glad I at least enjoyed as much as I could from my last year of middle school.
The only detail that made me feel sad was that I did not have a ceremony for my graduation from middle school and was not able to say goodbye to my Folklorico teacher and math teacher, whom I was close to.
I know that going into my sophomore year of high school will feel very similar to entering my freshman year. That is because I will finally have the opportunity to experience high school in person rather than through a screen. I will do my best to make sure I enjoy it as much as I possibly can by doing things like joining the Mexican folklore group, the journalism club, and the agriculture club. I also hope to prepare as best I can for college.
On the positive side, being in quarantine allowed me to have more time to try new things such as sewing, reading (even more than I used to do), practicing my clarinet, and also learning how to cook more dishes.
With the pandemic, I found a peaceful place to read in my backyard where I can hear birds sing beautifully. I have a big tree that many types of wild birds, such as cardinals, house finches, and American goldfinches stand on.
I had time to plant with my dad which gave me a big interest in agriculture.
During the pandemic, I became a housemaid. I started to help my mom with the house chores. Due to her lupus, her physical activity was drastically reduced, but gratefully I was there to help her and be with her every time the disease made her feel helpless.
The lockdown did have its disadvantages and advantages. I am confident that the good sides are the ones that matter the most.
During the pandemic, I started to watch the news. By watching the news, I realized how interesting journalism is. Journalists can travel and interview diverse groups of people. I believe that journalists have the power to influence the public. In the future, I want to be able to inspire people just as Paola Rojas, Denise Merker, and Maria Ressa do. The first two are Mexican journalists and Ressa is a Filipino-American journalist.
During a virtual class, my film/TV teacher told me that there was a journalism club at the school. I decided to join and eventually wrote articles about many different topics. This included topics such as the top five feminine authors, why the COVID-19 vaccine is secure, and how international women’s day was celebrated globally.
If the pandemic would not have happened, I would not be in the journalism workshop learning how to improve my journalistic skills such as writing and interviewing.
On the negative side, I do miss my routine of going to school in person. Of all my classmates, I only had one friend, but it was nice talking to one person of my age at least. I remember I would stay a couple of minutes before the dancing club to talk to the school staff.
Additionally, in school, I used to be in the Mexican folklore group which was fun and it is something I do miss. For the last two years in middle school, I enjoyed dancing and being the leader of the group. It was delightful to teach people the Mexican way of celebrating special days by showing the traditional dances.
I joined the Mexican Folklorico group because I wanted to know the traditional dances from where I and my family come from. In the group, we would use special cloth for the dances such as long skirts and boots so we could do a step named “Zapateado.”
We would have a song for each state from Mexico and dance each song with a different cloth. For the state of Jalisco we would dance to songs such as “La Negra”, “Jarabe Tapatio”, and “Guadalajara.” Then for the state of Sinaloa, we would dance to the songs “Toro Mambo” and “Paloma Blanca” with white dresses and for Veracruz, we would dance to “La Bruja” and “La Bamba”.
I am glad I at least enjoyed as much as I could from my last year of middle school.
The only detail that made me feel sad was that I did not have a ceremony for my graduation from middle school and was not able to say goodbye to my Folklorico teacher and math teacher, whom I was close to.
I know that going into my sophomore year of high school will feel very similar to entering my freshman year. That is because I will finally have the opportunity to experience high school in person rather than through a screen. I will do my best to make sure I enjoy it as much as I possibly can by doing things like joining the Mexican folklore group, the journalism club, and the agriculture club. I also hope to prepare as best I can for college.