On Monday, Dec. 30, 2019, I woke up to a trip to Jamaica. I was so thrilled. I didn’t even know what to say. Everything was packed and all set, so my family and I drove off.

We drove to Braintree to catch the bus that would later bring us to Logan. Once we got to the airport, we had breakfast and coffee in order to have a little energy in the beginning of the day.

After we had breakfast, we decided to walk around a little bit and look at the shops. We did this for about 20 minutes.

When it was time to catch the plane, I sat next to my mom and brother. My dad set in the next aisle behind us.

Looking back on my trip, it is truly upsetting because so much has changed. I didn’t know that only months later, I wouldn’t be able to do any of that or even to see my whole family.

This pandemic has brought nothing but sadness and distress to me and my family.

I couldn’t see my grandparents or my whole other side of the family. Since my grandparents old they don’t really know how to work electronics. Therefore we couldn’t zoom each other. All we had were phone calls.

The amount of anxiety and terror COVID-19 has brought is beyond one’s mind. We are all praying that it comes to an end soon. No more people getting sick. No more masks. No more online learning. And no more being afraid.

Not seeing someone face to face for so long was very challenging. At school we wear masks. We social distance in order to keep everyone safe in class and at lunch. This takes away human interaction and the chance of making new friends.

Although sports is another topic, during the school year with the pandemic, it has been very hard. Many sports have been canceled. There have been new rules about basketball, football and hockey. For hockey there was no checking, as for basketball there were no jump balls. You were not even allowed to high five your own teammates.

But throughout these hard times with this whole pandemic, we are still learning. And we need to stay positive.

The vaccination is a possible solution to all these problems. It cannot promise people won’t get COVID-19 . But it does help lessen the chances.

One thing I know is my vacations and travel have definitely changed. I don’t think it will be safe to not wear masks again. And I will never take things for granted, because those little things can be the best things in my life.