It all started on Friday, March 13th. Many students had just learned that LAUSD schools will be closed for the next two weeks, and at that moment everyone was excited. However, we left school that day without knowing that those two weeks would turn into months. That Friday became the last day I interacted with all my friends.

Now it is June already, and the idea of going to prom or grad night or even graduation is now only that: an idea, a reality for every other generation of seniors, but just a dream for the class of 2020. Friends hanging out at Boulevard Burgers, teachers leading a class discussion, extracurricular activities that had to do with things we are passionate about, and sports that brought all the Bell High Eagles together; everything seems far away now. It’s been only a few months, but it feels like years have passed since we saw each other.

I sometimes go to the market, and that 15-minute-walk is different now. It is not like how I remembered it. Every morning I used to do the same walk in order to get to school, but now the streets are so empty and quiet. No one was expecting this drastic change in our lives. 

The COVID effect goes beyond getting scared or buying as many groceries as you can. The COVID effect is also about nostalgia; it is about thinking of the good memories and of the future plans that I had, only to then realize that those memories are all I have, because those future plans might not become real. I will have to say goodbye to those photos I could have taken with friends at prom, goodbye to the idea of getting my yearbook signed by all my teachers, and even more painful, goodbye to the idea of throwing my cap to the air with the rest of my peers.

What are we thinking about? 

Family? 

Friends? 

College Life?  

What really matters is to focus thoughts in a positive way. Use those good memories as a source of strength rather than sadness and frustration. Nothing  can last forever. There will be a day in which life will go back to normal, and when that day comes, we should make sure that we made good memories and valued our time with those we love the most. 

This quarantine makes me appreciate my family even more, and I am sure that it has brought many families together. Those movie nights I used to have only on the weekend with mom and dad now occur every weekday, and is that single fact of spending time together what will make a difference in our current situation.

It is true that the Class of 2020 might be always remembered because of this pandemic, but at least we will know then that what helped us during that situation was only one thing: The hope for living normal again, and well, what better source of hope can be found in this world than that of our family and friends?