Category Archives: society

What I have learned from the Corona Virus

society

Airband, Senior Celebration, Prom, and Graduation. All are luxuries that have either been taken from us or could potentially be taken from us. When District 203 announced that school would be canceled, I was shocked. I knew that the Coronavirus was growing at a rapid rate, but I never thought that it would become a worldwide pandemic. This is something that I will tell my kids 20, maybe 30 years from now.  But as an 18-year-old senior, 2 months away from graduating, I am completely and utterly heartbroken. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with the people who matter most, my friends. It saddens me to know that our time together has been limited. However, over the past couple of days, I’ve gained more insight into the world and how people are and this whole experience caused me to become extremely humble. Let me explain why.

Despite my initial sadness and frustration, I came to realize that many people out there don’t have anything in this world. When I look at the news, Its disturbing seeing people hoard supplies when they don’t need too. What they fail to understand is that this causes an even greater divide within our community. There are people who don’t have access to health insurance, making it hard for them to get tested for the virus. There are those who live paycheck-to-paycheck, who have to go to work despite everything that’s going on. There are also those who have weak immune systems. They are the ones who are really suffering from this outbreak. Not us.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to be sad. Our plans were altered so quickly, we didn’t even get a chance to fully process the situation at hand. Everything happened so fast. Time doesn’t stop for anyone and that’s something that we all had to learn. I’m so sorry that our senior year will forever be changed by this event. Trust me, I know that brighter days are ahead. I’m a sucker for motivational quotes, so here’s one. “The way I see it, If you want the rainbow you gotta put up with the rain.” I know that I personally can’t want to go grab a cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake with my friends once things go back to normal. Remember to have something to look forward too after this quarantine ends 

Hopefully, we will grow as a nation after this all blows over. Hopefully, we will learn to cherish each other and the things around us. We are now restricted from basic things such as hanging out with friends, going to concerts, movies, restaurants. Hell, it’s even a risk going to the grocery store. As the old saying goes “You don’t know what you have until its gone.” and that saying will always remain true. So instead of wallowing in self-pity for the next couple of weeks, here are some things that I recommend:

Read, meditate, journal, walk outside, spend time with your family. Enjoy what’s right in front of you because in an instant they could be taken away from you. 

We got this. We will get through this.

 

 

How to not compare yourself to others

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I stand there. Silent. Not knowing what to say or how to respond. I feel a tight knot in my chest; an inevitable feeling of despair surfacing inside of me. Paper in hand, my thoughts race a mile a minute. What did I do wrong? Why does this always happen to me? Am I not good enough? I stare in agony at the object that consumed my thoughts. I’ve always been told that I was smart, but am I? Did this confirm everything that I’ve been feeling throughout my life? I look at the paper one more time; tears start to form as I look at the D written across the top of the page. I fall apart inside and feel my body slowly fall into the dark abyss…

What you just read was an excerpt of mine that I wrote in AP Lang last year. To me, this was one of the best pieces I’ve ever written. It was very therapeutic. Junior year was extremely stressful, so putting my thoughts on paper really helped me become more in-tune with my emotions. It was like journaling or meditating, I found comfort in telling my story. Looking at my paper now, all of the feelings that I had started rushing back. The feeling of feeling interior. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve always felt the need to compare myself to other people. It’s an underlining habit that I just can’t seem to crack. It’s ever so consuming and can really shatter someone’s self-esteem if they’re not careful. However, I recently started to realize that a lot of other people go through the same thing I do, they’re just better at hiding it. 

So here are some tips for when you feel down and can’t help but compare yourself to others. P.S: You are all beautiful and deserve everything. I know this school differentiates the top elite students from the quote on quote “average” kids, but none of you are average. None of you are less than. Please know that. 

 

  1. Give yourself positive affirmations every day

 

I know, I know, it may sound extremely silly, but this actually helps a lot. When I wake up in the morning and go to the bathroom to get ready for school, I stare in the mirror and say 

 

“You’re beautiful”

 

“You can do anything you want to do in life”

 

“Today is a good day. You’re going to be happy” 

 

Keeping this positive mindset throughout the day will have you searching for things that make you happy so you can stay happy. However, If you think talking to yourself is weird, try going online and listening to meditation videos (it’s basically the same thing). Hearing someone (or yourself) say that you’re beautiful and important will cause you to believe it over time. Remember, you have to be your biggest cheerleader. 

 

2. Surround yourself with people who uplift you

It’s so easy to get into a negative mindset, especially when you’re around those who are negative themselves. It hinders your growth being around people who don’t appreciate you, who don’t support you, and who don’t respect you. Be around people who love you and show you how much you mean to them. Surrounding yourself with positive energy is the first step towards healing the demon’s inside. 

3. Turn failure into lessons 

This is something that I struggle with. I always have this mindset of “Why me?” or “I did everything right, what happened? I deserve to get what I want and I got the complete opposite, why is that?” What I fail to realize though, is that pain doesn’t discriminate. Neither does failure. You could have a plan laid out for yourself, you could have goals and dreams and aspirations, but sometimes they don’t come true. It has nothing to do with you in particular, it’s simply not the path that you were destined to take. It’s a hard pill to swallow, coming to terms with failure. Once you come to terms with it though, don’t give up, know that things can only get better for you. It’ll just take time, all good things take time. 

Thanks for reading:)

The rise and fall of Cancel Culture

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Ahhhhhhh, cancel culture. A noble act of removing anyone who says anything remotely problematic. James Charles says that he likes to date straight guys? Canceled. Kylie Jenner wears box braids, yet claims she invented a new style called “shoelace twists”? Canceled. But do we really cancel these people? Do we actually stick to our word and stop supporting influencers who are known for their sexist, racist and homophobic tendencies? The short answer to this question is no

We don’t.

Why don’t we, you ask? Because in society, we love calling out each other’s mistakes and transgressions, yet we can never hold ourselves accountable for our own actions. “I did something wrong but let me showcase the horrible things this person has done to try to deflect the things that I’ve done.”

Make it make sense.

Cancel culture became prevalent in 2012, When Cisco Rosado, A reality star on Love and Hip Hop: New York: told his girlfriend at the time that she was “Canceled”. Shortly after the episode aired, the phrase “You’re Canceled” started to appear all over social media. It became a worldwide phenomenon to cancel a Celebrity, Influencer, or Artist who had opinions that were considered “unpopular” in the mainstream media. The message was simple. Stop supporting people who don’t support you. Don’t waste your money and energy on someone who is disrespectful to their general audience– the people who gave them a platform and voice. It’s upsetting when you find out that your favorite singer, dancer, actor, or actress isn’t what you made them out to be. I get it, I understand that. 

Here is the problem.

In real life, you can’t cancel someone just because they’ve made a mistake. If that’s the case, you and I both would’ve been canceled a longgg time ago. You have to talk and communicate your feelings in a healthy way, creating a mature dialogue between you and that individual. Once that is established, it’s on them whether or not they want to have the same mindset that they did before your encounter. It’s on them whether or not they want to change. Canceling someone without letting them learn from their mistakes will create a mean, bitter, spiteful person who won’t change their behavior. They will believe that the world is against them over something that they didn’t mean to do, making them resentful towards the demographic that they offended. Cancel culture is just as problematic as the person who is being canceled. It hinders growth. It causes us to lack communication skills and  It causes anger, bitterness and hatred– something that we have too much of in this world. 

Before you decide to cancel someone, Always remember that everyone comes from different backgrounds and lifestyles– some different than your own, which doesn’t excuse terrible behavior by any means, but only shows you that some people are so use to the dark, that they’ve never tried to look up and see the light. Learn to be more compassionate. More understanding. More kind. If not for their sake then…

For yours.