80 Masked Memories: A high school experience through COVID

I heard about the first Covid-19 outbreak in December 2019. At the time, I was in grade 10, and as a young, healthy teenager, my peers and I were very concerned about this new disease. Even when the first case of Covid reached North America in January 2020, I did not think much about the illness. My parents, sister and I went on our planned trip to California in February 2020. Although there was increasing news about Covid, it did not affect our trip. It was not until March 2020 that I began to see Covid as a more serious issue.

On Friday, March 13th, 2020, I was sitting in my grade 10, civics and careers class when the announcement of an extended March break came over through the PA system. Everyone in my class was excited about the extra two weeks off, and I was already looking forward to getting to spend more time with my friends. For the first two weeks, nothing in my life changed drastically. I still went to hockey, saw friends, and went shopping at the mall. I remember the day my mom told me that we needed to start being more responsible members of society by doing our part and participating in the lockdown. I stopped seeing my friends, my hockey season ended early, and I wore a mask the rare times I went out in public.

I participated in the lockdown and followed restrictions until there was a greater understanding of Covid in 2021. Without school or sports, I began to have a new daily routine. My sleep schedule switched to staying up late and sleeping in. Most of my time during the day was spent going on walks outside, baking, listening to music, and watching movies or TV shows. Walks were an especially nice way to get out of my house, and I would try new recipes for baked goods every week. Because I had to occupy myself, the lockdown was the first time I started listening to a lot of music, which has remained an essential part of my everyday life. Watching movies also became a new passion of mine. I enjoyed watching the classics, new movies, and cheesy movies, which is another aspect of lockdown that I still enjoy doing.

Eventually, school resumed virtually, except that no one knew how to navigate the new format of online learning. In retrospect, I learned very little for the remainder of 10th grade and most of my 11th grade due to the nature of online and blended class formats. I enjoy school and learning, so even with the new style of education, I put effort into my work. However, I know not everyone at my high school felt the same and many took advantage of the “grade freeze.” Because of the promise that grades would not drop from the start of the lockdown, many never submitted any quality work or any work at all. My parents encouraged me to continue trying hard in school and I believe that maintaining my work ethic throughout the pandemic ultimately gave me more success. Although education and socialization at all ages are important, I consider myself lucky in terms of the timing of the pandemic. I had the chance to experience a normal grade 9 with my friends and normal examinations as well as a (mostly) normal grade 12 with a graduation and prom.

With everyone isolated from friends, family, and work, the decline in the mental health of many people in my life was something I noticed. Any birthdays or holidays were either hosted outside in small groups or put on hold altogether. Visiting my grandparents became very difficult as they were in a retirement home where lockdowns were very strict. My older sisters live in Whitehorse, so to visit them we needed to travel to British Columbia where restrictions were more relaxed. I would see my friends occasionally, but only on walks near our houses while maintaining 6 feet distance between us. I also rely on sports and physical activity very heavily for my social interactions and my mental health, which was taken away from me. The initial novelty of the lockdown became very lonely, very quickly. I also know many of my peers went through similar struggles of feeling lonely and isolated.

Blame and resentment are two strong themes that I observed during the pandemic. There was a rise of Asian hate in the media and society because Covid had originated in China. There were also strong feelings towards those who refused to get vaccinated. As someone who strongly believes in medicine and science, it was very frustrating to see people refusing to get vaccinated and spreading misinformation about the vaccine. Some politicians and other popular media figures were using scare tactics to discourage people from following the suggestions made by healthcare professionals. While I got four Pfizer vaccinations, some people did not get any. I stayed up to date on my vaccines to keep others safe and was happy to show proof using my vaccination passport, which was required for entry into many public spaces. I felt very angered when I found out some people were using fake vaccination passports to go to places such as restaurants. I found this to be inconsiderate and irresponsible when there were still so many unknowns surrounding the disease, and they were putting minimum-wage workers at risk of getting sick. While I was doing my best to keep myself and others in my community safe, I felt bitter towards those still hosting parties, not wearing masks, or making a mockery of Covid.

I think it is important for scholars to study our collective Covid experience. Everyone viewed the pandemic differently and endured different challenges. My experience as a high schooler would be very different from that of an elementary school student learning to read, an adult who was laid off, or an elderly person stuck in a hospital with no visitors allowed. During the peak of the pandemic, there was a lot of confusion about preventive measures. While overall, the measures helped to control the spread of the disease, there were also many mistakes made along the way. Countries were unprepared for a pandemic, and I think learning from mistakes and improving how to handle a disease with efficiency will be increasingly important with the uncertainty of our future.