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Having the miraculous ability to go back one year and tell myself what is to come would be amazing. Being able to see what I’ve become over this year compared to before. Knowing that I’ve grown physically and mentally over this past year. Not only though, would I tell myself all my body and mental changes. But I will warn by past about what tragedies are to come. COVID-19 a life killing virus that in my day has taken more than 3 million lives. Having to wear masks to any public place. This is what life is about at the moment, multiple guidelines and restriction out in place to secure the safety of one another. Santiago from the past, you need to be prepared for what is to come, you need to find ways to entertain yourself during lockdown. You must, spend time with family. Stay safe, inform yourself since day 1 when it first appeared in Wuhan, China. Don’t make the same mistakes that 7 billion people made. Know if your putting others at risk or not, and spread awareness to your fellow peers. Be ready. This message was brought to you by Santiago Valbuena on May 9th 2021.

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This life-threatening virus has changed humanity as we know it, it has struck us all. Some more than others. The world will never be the same as it was before, this virus will always be remembered in our world’s history. More than 3 million people have been put to rest due to this pandemic. Brothers and sisters never to return again. We have all gone through major impacts in our lives and that is what made this pandemic so bad. People having to go to work with a mask, having trouble breathing. Communication is harder to comprehend nowadays due to the mask. I really wonder, when this pandemic ends, how will we end up. Having to wear a mask wherever we go? Not being able to stand close to a person? These are all just thoughts at the moment but could possibly become reality. So much has changed, that it’s impossible to state every little detail into a 200+ word journal. But what I will say is that this pandemic has brought us fear and a lot of tragedy. But we can’t think of this year like a year of the bad. There is always a light of hope underneath all the dark, you just need to find it and pull it on top.

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This pandemic has shown us that we need to appreciate our first amendment more, our right of freedom. This pandemic has taken it all away, locked up in a house, the only means to get out is for food and water. Months going by, and nothing yet for our release, it feels like I am stuck in a prison cell, nobody in and nobody out. This is the kind of year we have experienced, no freedom at all whatsoever. It’s crazy how when you're outside doing something proactive, you feel free, this is what human life is all about. Being able to roam freely on this big green and blue ball named earth. This virus has made us all lose this ability of ours, to be ourselves. But together, we will fight through this era and gain our freedom. Starting by listening to the experts and knowing when you are putting someone at risk or not. All these little things that help us out through this pandemic helps us get one step closer to our goal of human freedom. 2 years ago, 2019, a year where everything was normal, being able to breath freely without a mask, walk into a public area and buy your favorite Doritos chips. Going down a ridiculously fast water slide without the fear of someone having a deadly virus next to you. This is the type of life we should have. Us humans can have this back and be freer than ever, if we help one another. And just by being able to go back to school in person, I can smell freedom within my grasp.

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Rosa Castaneda (grandma) Interview

What was your first reaction when hearing about COVID-19?

My first reaction was to inform myself about all the scientific information about that virus.

Do you think people were overreacting or underreacting?

Overreacting

Why did you decide to take the COVID-19 vaccine?

Because of my experiences, I have had 2 bad experiences, close experiences. My daughter had COVID-19, and my older sister died from COVID-19 and according to the information, the vaccine is the only protection that scientists have invented to protect us from the virus.

What is the first thing you thought about doing once you got the vaccine?

Being able to reunite again with my family and be able to see them again.

What has this pandemic helped you realize?

I am more calm physically and mentally wise now that I have the vaccine.

Did you have to cancel any major events?

My daughters 40 year old birthday party, Christmas & New Year with family.

What would you tell yourself a year ago from now?

To be very well informed about this upcoming virus, and scientifically informed not just politically. This is a life threatening virus and in order to understand it you need scientific information.

Do you think that we could have done anything better to prevent the spread?

Vaccinate yourself, and follow all the medical and scientific recommendations and guidelines.

Would you like to comment anything extra?

This pandemic has changed our lives and not only mine but everyone on this planet, because this was a global pandemic. This has left some people in difficult times and some people have lost family lives due to this and some were more fortunate than others.

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Sandra Puentes (mom) Interview

How did COVID affect you?

The lockdown affected my freedom, I also got a lot of fear because I thought we weren’t going to have enough food for some reason because the supermarkets started to run out of certain products so I felt like we were in a war zone. But thank god that we live in a powerful country that could manage and provide the citizens what they need.

Do you think that the COVID vaccine should be mandatory and why?

No, there are people that aren’t vulnerable to the virus so I don’t think it should be mandatory to teenagers or little kids. It should be highly recommended to people with health conditions.

How was your experience when you had the virus?

I was panicked, I was shocked, I got scared and for me it was like mild symptoms, then I had to be isolated for 14 days. After the 4th day my emotional feelings were fine, no panic. I was completely recovered, but I got really bored during the 14 days, very lonely.

What were your symptoms?

Muscle ache, bones hurt, headache, and fever.

What are you planning on doing when this pandemic is over?

Travel, travel, travel, and travel.

Do you think that we will go back to 100% normal?

No, I don’t think so, because there are a lot of  “side effects” to having a pandemic and all the Tragedy to have in the world that it’s really hard to go back to normal but we don’t only have to think about the bad things but also the good things that happened, like technology. It took an important place in combating this virus. People realized what was really important in life which is family, and health.

Do you think the government could have done anything better to combat this virus?

No, I think they have been doing a good job, they are protecting a lot of people, and the economy is improving a lot.

Do you think masks should be mandatory?

Yes, because it’s not only to protect yourself,  it's to protect others.

What about when this pandemic is over?

When every single state opens up 100% and there start removing COVID restrictions in public places such as airports, restaurants, public places. Then they shouldn’t be mandatory.

Do you have anything you would like to address about this pandemic?

All these bad things that happen to the world come for a reason, and we should be prepared for what comes at us. And not only should we be looking at the bad stuff we should also look positively at these things.

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This picture is to show the rough times I’ve had with soccer through this pandemic. Ever since it started, they shut down everything, in 2021, the reopened my soccer academy and. I was so happy to continue. But I got a large bump on the bottom of my foot, barely able to walk. It hurt as if I were stepping on a rock. I got surgery a couple months later and I was told that it was a piece of metal I stepped on and encapsulated inside my skin throughout the days. I was out for 5 months total. Then I was so relieved when I was healed so I came back to soccer after 5 full months of sitting in bed. I get back and I fracture my foot. That killed my mood for about a week, I felt like nothing, I had to sit out for a whole month while my teammates would travel to tournaments and games. I am not completely healed and in soccer 100%. I’m so glad my journey with my sport is still continuing, I might not be as good as I was before, but practice makes perfect.

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The flash, one of the best DC characters in my opinion has its own Netflix series. 7 seasons of the flash, about 20 episodes each. This is such an entertaining series for me. It involves a lot of action and comedy which are my two favorite genres. This series was my main thing to watch during quarantine because there was literally nothing to do at the house.

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This is the DaBaby car. DaBaby is a rapper and became big meme during this year. I’m not very sure why but people made him a car which is shown on the picture lol. Someone also made a game called “DaGame” on the App Store as a meme game from the rapper DaBaby.

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Charlie ‘damelio, probably the biggest face on social media right now at this time. Charlie is a famous tik toker with over 100 million followers on the platform for dancing to songs 🤦🏻‍♂️. Along with how she grew to become popular, she also grew on the meme pages. This picture is a meme from Charlie when she made her first YouTube video.

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Since we were in quarantine, there wasn’t much we could really do. Our only option really was either play electronics all day (which our parents wouldn’t let us & we didn’t want to either) or get creative and find something to do. I was with my friend at my house and we decided to become photographers so we tried the replicate very good photographs taken by real photographers and it didn’t come out so bad.

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This year (2021), the COCID-19 was exposed to the world, but by age groups. My grandparents wanted to take the vaccine immediately so they can fly down from NY to FL to come visit us. This picture shows the certificate of my grandparents being fully vaccinated with the “moderna” vaccine.

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During the pandemic, we obviously got bored sitting around the house doing nothing for multiple months. So we decided to do things to entertain ourselves. One of the first things my little brother did was to bring us all into the living room and entertain us by imitating each and every one of us. Isn’t this picture he is imitating my grandpa who is a construction worker.

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This was so funny becasue this is a character from the movie zootopia who is a sloth and is really slow at doing this, and in the 2020 elections, we were waiting in Nevada to see if Joe Biden were to win or Donald Trump and it took them about one full week to count them all 😂

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During the pandemic, my brother turned 10 years old. Turning 10 for my family is a really special day because it’s a day where we consider it when your not a little kid anymore, and it’s the first day where you have 2 digits in your age. I am really happy for my brother and how he is growing up, but im also sad because my little bro is growing too fast haha. Time flies in life and you always have to take advantage and appreciate every moment because a time like that will never come across again.

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This photo drawn by me is a representation of this years pandemic and the virus that might not have got us all, but it has affected our world, and each individual person in some way.

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This headline brought many protests and riots into our world. Derek Cancun a former officer chocked a black man to death after putting his knee on top of his neck so he couldn’t breath. This made a BLM (black lives matter) alliance to show the world that everyone should be treated equally. This also brought up the amount of racism in this world. This has to stop

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COVID-19, probably one of the craziest events in my life. 2020 was full of surprises and this virus was its biggest. And finally in 2021 it’s coming to an end. I am genuinely relieved that this pandemic, this quarantine, this virus, is being controlled. This Outbreak has affected my life because it makes us have to wear masks whenever upon a public area.

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This headline is about the ESL (European Super League) collapse. I was frustrated by this headline appearance because this tournament was meant to have the 20 best clubs from around the world compete against each other. This championship would have been by far the best League in soccer. I understand why it collapsed, the ESL was not going to be sponsored by FIFA. So whoever participated in the ESL, would be banned from playing in The World Cup & UEFA Championship.