Hope
by April

Two weeks have passed since the shutdown because of the coronavirus. Schools, restaurants, and other locations have been closed. My mom, stepfather, and I all work at a restaurant, and we all have lost our jobs “temporarily”. My brother and I are in school and we have been receiving our classes online. Classes are even harder because the teachers and the entire school system was not prepared for this either. Sometimes I help my brother with his classes since his work looks like my Blackboard account from college. He is smart and he knows English very well, but he still needs my help. This led me to think about young immigrants who recently arrived and don’t understand English or have access to a computer. They are struggling the most and it hurts me. At the same time, it makes me appreciate what I already have. In my family we were not used to hanging out a lot. My mother is very conservative and I had to get special permission to hang out with friends. Most of the time, if we were not in school or working, we were at home. This quarantine hasn’t really affected me since we were already introverted people. I don’t like going outside and don’t like how everything feels very tense. Two weeks ago everyone thought it was just a small virus going on in China, and now there are thousands of cases all around the world and people are dying. We are trying to keep calm, we are learning how to bake and I am trying to get better in my skills as a gamer. On the other hand, with no jobs and the bills coming without stopping, we are trying to look on the bright-side of all this. I have more time to share with my mom and my brother, after months where I barely could see them because of work and school. The government hasn’t made too much for communities of color and that just makes us see that we only have each other, el pueblo ayudando el pueblo.  This quarantine has even helped me to reconnect with my family in El Salvador. We used to talk with my siblings once a month, but now I’m helping my other brother in El Salvador every day with his English and Science assignments. It feels good to have that connection back. I hope everyone is working on their bright side until we find a cure either for the virus, or for us to be more human with each other not only in difficult situations.