The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXI

Helen Chen
Mandy Lam and Thu-Hang Tran-Peou, Teachers
Josiah Quincy Upper School, Boston, MA
Have you ever experienced a global pandemic, not knowing what will come
next, or how to be there for your loved ones? Courage is what helped us face
this unprecedented time with love and care. Courage teaches us not to be
afraid but to be brave when times look dark. My parents taught me courage
during a time when we were all trying our best in the unknown.
COVID-19 has been a wild roller coaster ride in a dark tunnel that no one
could have predicted or managed. Everyone is fighting against the invisible
enemy, the COVID virus. Hospitals are overwhelmed. Many are dying. The
world shuts down because the virus is overtaking us. However, there is hope.
The hope is that we can survive this pandemic with faith in each other, care
for one another, love for our community–that we are all in this together.
When the pandemic hit, my family had a lot of risks. There were many news
stories about violence against Asians due to misinformation on the news.
Many people wrongly accused Asian people, claiming the virus was started by
Chinese people and that all Asians were the source of it. My mom feared for
the safety of my elderly grandmother. My family, at the time, had no protective
equipment (masks, hand sanitizer, etc), when things were running out of
stock. My family was panicking and worried. Things got worse when people
yelled at us when we didn’t have any masks. They hated us for not following
what was required. We were constantly living with fear even though we were
trying our best. My mom had to reassure people we encountered that we were
not going to harm them.
“Courage has helped
me see that with
love, care, and faith
for each other, we
can work through
these challenges
and overcome
the darkest time
of our lives.”
At the near end of the COVID roller coaster tunnel today, we now have
vaccines for adults and children. People started to be able to do their
normal activities and work. My family is able to go back to school in person,
my mom is able to go to work if she wants to, and my dad is still continuing
his work at the post office. Everybody feels like a giant weight has been lifted
off our shoulders.
Courage has helped me see that with love, care, and faith for each other, we
can work through these challenges and overcome the darkest time of our lives.
My parents showed that with courage we do not have to be afraid as long as
we have faith and hope–we will survive together. I am stronger today because
I know with hard work it will change the world to be a better place.
Beside the risks my family had when the pandemic hit us, we also had to
change and adapt to how we did things. At the beginning of the pandemic
my mom changed from going to work, to working from home. My older
sister and I had to stay home and do remote learning. My dad had the
biggest risk of all, because he had to continue working in person at the
postal office to keep the mail and packages delivered. He faced the risk
of getting COVID since many people at his work had COVID when he was
working in person. We experienced many challenges during the pandemic.
My mom’s challenges were having to take care of my older sister and me,
as well as doing her job. My older sister and I had to change our learning
environment to something we had never done before–switching our
learning in the classroom to on screen remotely. It was hard straining our
eyes on the screen for hours, yet in isolation.
The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond
Volume XXXI
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