The World Gets A Glimpse Of Normal

It feels as if the world is covered with acid. That is how I see the pandemic, known as the Corona pandemic. If you see another cough, sneeze, or have a high fever, it’s just an instinct to back up. I remember when I was young, I would almost hope to get sick so I would get a day off. However, now I know I have to be cautious and aware of my surroundings. I was a fifth grader when it was announced that we would be taking a “short” break. Everyone including myself was saying things along the lines of “ this is all fake, we will be back within a few days”. How I wish that was true! 2020 – in the middle of March is when we all needed to leave the school premises. I had not yet learned the big and important social skills needed to start middle school.

Tik Tok is a good example of what I used for entertainment. It made a big impact. The influence is either good or bad. Tik Tok became a platform that had kids think about things they shouldn’t worry about or think about things that made them label themselves into different categories. In 2019, about 323 million people were on Tik Tok. The difference is crazy within 3-years. Now in 2022, about 4.8 billion people are on Tik Tok! So in other words, the popularity went skyrocketing! TikTok was now replacing social interactions amongst my peers.

I had learned about nothing in 6th grade from the majority being on zoom. My overall thought was: “Who’s going to make me do school work when I could just sit back and relax”? In the last month of 6th grade, it was optional to be in person (hybrid) or remain online (zoom). I went back to school and it was mandatory to wear a mask and to social distance (6 feet apart). This was the first time I was seeing my middle school peers in person, but we weren’t allowed to have that typical middle school experience. Everyone had their faces covered, and we were forced to spread out. Classroom instruction looked different and did not contain the normal activities that allowed for us to interact with each other. The next year I was a 7th grader and for 3/4 of that year, it was mandated to wear a mask indoors. For the last portion of the year, masks were recommended. There were a few outbreaks of covid, which led there to a small number of people attending. In a way, covid was a curse and deprived us from a true middle school experience.

Currently, I’m an 8th grader and I had my FIRST middle school dance in October! Normally for my school, I should have had my first dance two years ago. Walking into school gives me panic because I’m not wearing a mask, even though I know I do not need to. It is now locked in my mind. It feels like a memory that had happened recently, but has now been a few months short of 3 years. Finally, my middle school experience is getting a glimpse of normalcy as masks are no longer required, sports and clubs are back to their normal schedules, we are allowed to have social interactions with our peers, and we are finally going to be able to experience what a middle school dance looks and feels like. Sadly, as things are returning back to normal…for us 8th graders, things will change again as we will head off to high school. For us, our middle school experience will only last one year!