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Writer's pictureSouth Gwinnett Myriad

Alexandria Baptiste's Memoir

The day was March 12th. A normal day to the naked eye. But if you looked closely, you could see the terror that was near. Coronavirus is slowly spreading through the streets, the way cancer slowly invades the body until it has fully taken over every inch and there’s nothing left. . Everything was unsure. Whether we would go back to school, or our parents would go to work was up in the air. We were just waiting for everything to come down.

“Hey Lex, do you want to go get something for dinner?”, my mom yelled up the stairs.

“Sure.”, I say as I come downstairs ready to see what we’ll be feasting on tonight.

We head into the garage and get settled in the car. Five or so minutes go by and I hear the infamous Snapchat notification sound. I check my phone to see who had messaged me. It was one of my classmates. I thought it was a normal, “How quarantine going text?”, but it was much more than that.

The text read, “Hey Lexie! I know we’ve been wondering if we were going back to school this year, I hate to say it but we aren’t. My mom’s friend is a teacher so she heard it first. Governor Kemp will announce it tonight.”

My heart sank. Imagine reading one of the greatest books you’ve ever read. The characters were great, the plot was getting even better, and you were almost at the climax. Then you turn the page and realize the rest of the pages were ripped out. That’s the best way to describe how it feels.

I couldn’t believe that the last year with all of my childhood friends was cut short. All the fun things we had planned like our 8th-grade week where we have an action-packed week filled with fun activities that rewarded us for completing 3 successful years of middle school. Or our formal, which is what I was really looking forward to. Everyone puts on their nicest dresses and sharpest suits. We go to school to dance, sing, laugh, and our make last set of memories with each other. Now we’re sitting at home, with only the faint idea of the joy we would be having.

“I guess we’re not going back to school this year”, I say to my mom with a somber tone.

“What? How do you know?”, she asked with the same tone of confusion that I once had.

“My classmates’ mom’s friend is a teacher, she heard the news first. She said Kemp will announce it today.”, I replied.

“Well let’s go home and to catch the six o’clock news. No matter what happens, everything will turn out fine.”, my mom said with wavering confidence that I didn’t believe.

I had never been more anxious to get home, to hear my fate for myself. After getting dinner, my mother and I hurried into the house and sat on the couch. She turned the tv on and changed the channel to Fox 5 News. It was six o’clock on the dot, and we were right on time for the evening segment. As soon as the news comes on the volumes blasts with banners flying in every direction.

“Breaking News! Governor Brian Kemp announces that schools will be closed for the remainder of the school year. Until we have a steady grip on the coronavirus, the school will be closed indefinitely.’, the news reporter says with a bit too much enthusiasm for my liking.

So I guess that’s it. That’s my eighth-grade year. I was mad, scared, anxious, and every other emotion one might feel during a time like this.

“This is crazy. But look at the bright side, it's your eighth-grade year. Which means you’ll probably have at least a couple of normal years of high school. Just be grateful that you’re not a senior. At least you’ll be able to graduate. Just take it one day at a time. Everything will turn out fine.”, my mom says with reassurance.

She was right. There are seniors that don’t get to walk across the stage, or have graduation, parties, or go to their last prom. There are some people on a ventilator fighting for their life right now. I’m not going to continue to sit here and feel bad for myself. I’m going to get on zoom every day, quarantine with my family, and make the best with what I have.

There are so many people with Covid-19 invading their lungs that wish they had another day to be with their family, or watch a movie with their friends, or simply go out to dinner. Now they’re all alone in a hospital room surrounded by hazmat suits and monitors. Yes, our situation is unfortunate, but there are much more unfortunate things going on than me having to do school from home. I’m going to make the best of my current situation and appreciate it.

I spent 6 entire months in quarantine, along with the rest of the world. This whole experience has taught me two things. It taught me to live every single living, breathing moment like it’s your last because it just might be. Lastly and most importantly, I learned that there’s always something to be grateful for, even if you have to look a little deeper to find it.


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