March 24, 2020
Dear Diary,
In case you didn’t already know, I’m home from school because of the Coronavirus. All our
classes will be online now. I have a lot of mixed emotions. A lot of things that I had planned got
cancelled. I was going to see a Broadway show with family, but all Broadway shows got
cancelled. What I had been really looking forward to was a production of the musical Once
Upon A Mattress in April. The cast and crew had been working hard, but unfortunately, the
production got cancelled. It was inevitable, but I cried, nonetheless. I did realize that I need to
gain a little more perspective. This wasn’t the end of the world, and I have many more
opportunities left to perform. Many people are in a way worse situation than I am because of
this virus. I had to be considerate of those people. Another big takeaway is that I made so many
friends during musical rehearsals. They made me feel welcome when I was afraid that I
wouldn’t be welcomed. I miss them all so much. But the big takeaway for me is that I get to
spend more time with my family. In the last few days, we’ve had movie nights, family game
nights, and went on walks in the park (we’re sure to follow social distancing practices). It feels
weird. I can’t greet my parents the way I used to when they come back from their shifts in the
hospital. No hugs. No kisses or high-fives. Just a mere elbow-bump or a wave. It’s not the same.
I had a weird epiphany lately. I’m getting ahead of myself here. I’m looking forward to the end
of the school year, but when the summer break ends, for the first time, I’m not going to be
upset that I’ll be going back to school. This is really the first time I can say I miss school and I
wish I can be there. Classes started yesterday. I’ll put in another entry when this first week is
over.
March 30
Dear Diary,
We have entered week 2 of distance learning. Things are going fine so far. I got a great grade on
a Calculus exam that I took last week. So that made me happy. Many of my friends seem to be
using Zoom rather than Blackboard to communicate with teachers and each other. Today I was
invited to my first Zoom conference, but it wasn’t for school; it was for a club that I am a part of
at school called Mask and Hammer. This club is geared towards anyone interested in theater
like me. We usually hold meetings on Monday, and the club president wanted to try using
Zoom to hold a meeting. So, I joined the video conference, and I was so happy to see my friends
again, whom I all missed very much. We discussed plans of still holding the club’s annual endof-year party through Zoom even though we would not be in the same room. I met my friends’
pets, which made me smile but also jealous because I do not have a pet of my own. I have also
checked up on my friends from high school. I had a long conversation with my friend Vic and
told her I missed her very much and that I hope she is safe with her family. Then I said
something I have not really told anyone else. I worry a lot about my parents. My parents are
both nurses, so they are the essential workers who are allowed out of the house to work. My
parents always come home tired and they tell me that it is frightening working in the hospital
now because they had never seen anything like the coronavirus before. One day my dad
planned to get the family breakfast, but he had to stay extra hours in the ER. I was afraid
something happened to him, but he came home just happy to see me and the rest of my family,
and I was happy to see that he is doing fine. Well that’s it for now.