COVID-19 Was Life-Altering for One High Schooler

BY ABDUL IBRAHIM

Since COVID-19 first started everything has been downhill for me because I could barely go out and meet my friends and people that I have known for years.

I was hoping to have a great school year but everything changed when school had to close due to COVID-19. Ever since then everything in school has changed completely, such as all the students have to sit one row apart from each other and all students must wear mask at all time for safety.

When I had to do online classes, it was very hard because I couldn’t ask questions that I would have asked in person such as, “is it okay for you to show me how to solve this problem?’’

It was hard for the teacher to show me how to solve the work problem so instead he would tell me to go to the school website and watch the three-minute videos.

It was also very hard to stay at home for online classes because sometimes your internet will go off or we were having bad Wi-Fi.

Also some do not even have a laptop so they have to work from phone. Some people I know have bad laptops which is hard to work with. Some of the things I have experienced with online classes is that I have to find a quiet and peaceful place rather than getting interrupted by family or siblings; especially if your siblings are between four months and five-years-old.

When school reopened there wasn’t a pep rally or event that we usually have in school.

It was very sad that everyone in school has to wear a mask and sometimes I couldn’t recognize some of my friends because everyone has changed.

Not all students show up to school. Only a few students show up to school most of the time. Many students will not be participating in any of the school events because they are scared they might get COVID-19.

Unfortunately 2020 and 2021 there were canceled soccer and Karate tournaments that I have trained for since 2019 to win my second Dallas Karate Championship and win my three Gold Summer League Soccer Championships.

This past summer I have focused on myself and loving myself. COVID-19 has changed everything in my life to downhill.

I have to admit it. Even though COVID-19 has destroyed everything I love, COVID-19 has also brought me and my family closer together. We went from hardly seeing each other to seeing each every day, doing family fun things at home such as playing board games, watching movies and helping each other around the house.

While we were in school, even though it was online, I still passed my grade because I would have to go school and talk to the teacher one-on-one while wearing a mask and using hand sanitizer.

Now I have a chance to talk to my teachers and get my grades up.

For these and many reasons, I hate and love COVID-19.

Abdul Ibrahim is now a student at Dallas College, Dallas, TX.