Mid-Hudson News has launched a “Student Journalist” section to allow elementary, middle, and high-school students to write essays or “news as they see it” for submission (details below). The following is an essay from one of our “Student Journalists”, Gisella Terralavoro.
Every day I wake up, counting down till everything goes back to normal. Till this horrible tragedy ends. I know this is really hard for people and even harder for people that have COVID-19. Coronavirus has affected many people’s lives, like family members and special events. I know some of us are counting down till we go back to school, but it is better that we stay safe instead of everyone getting it.
Some of the negative things that have been happening are that a lot of special events like NYSSMA, lacrosse tournaments, dance competitions, music festivals, and a bunch of other festive activities. More negative things are that some parents are risking their lives to save people, some parents are working from home, people are losing jobs due to COVID-19, and isolation from friends and some family. What I learned from all of this mayhem was that wash your hands and stay safe is the most important thing you will ever know.
With all of those negatives going on there are a lot of positives like having more family dinners, a lot more family time, I still got to see my teachers also friends, and live video chat or Zooms. The good part for some of us (especially mothers) is that we have no choice to keep our rooms messy. The thing that impacted me the most was that we had to do online school and learning. What most people didn’t understand until this happened is that most weren’t aware of their surroundings, but now people are being more aware. The positives about this whole quarantine are that some people have no excuse to go outside and get some Vitamin-D. With the negative like “ you can’t go to do activities” but, some teams or dance places are doing live chats and Zoom meetings. I also started to hear and see differences in stores, on the phone, and on the news. I heard things like “ Stay Safe” and “Stay 6 feet apart”. The best thing that happened this past week is that for my neighbor’s 3rd birthday the Town of Montgomery police and sheriffs department honked their horns around the neighborhood. When she saw that they did that, her face lit up. She got so happy. The whole neighborhood was worried that they wouldn’t come, they did and we were very excited.
The meaning of this essay is that we might be in extremely hard times but, we are all in this together. Some of our family members or friends might have it and we have to stay strong for them and ourselves. The governor said that we might reopen on May 15. According to Siri, that is about 29 with weekends involved. Without weekends that is about 21 days until we go back. This tragedy will end soon. We have to be patient and safe. The best that we could do as people is stay away from large crowds, avoid being in stores, and the last thing is that you should STAY SAFE.
About the author:
Gisella is 12 years old and a student at Valley Central middle school. The author plays lacrosse, participates in dance and plays the clarinet. She is also working on her Silver Award in Girl Scouts.
If you have a student that is interested in writing a submission, please send an email to Todd Bender at bender@midhudsonnews.com and ask for the submission requirements.
