Jane Lee, 12 COVID: The Normality Thief Jane Lee, 12 Before Covid, my mom used to yell “Hurry or you’ll miss the bell!” My dad would add, “You’re going to be late!” But then the pandemic changed our fate I miss The rumble of the bus Even though I had to rush I miss having a freshly sharpened pencil As a writing utensil Replaced by the clacking sound of a keyboard on the rebound I used to think preparing for school was a bore Not anymore I miss wearing barrettes ribbons, and bows Replaced with noise canceling Bose Now I’m at home learning in sweats Instead of at school wearing my sweater sets Zoom and Google meets Replace our classroom seats For math, it’s not bad But for orchestra it’s just sad It’s impossible to have a melodic session When it’s interrupted by a laggy connection I miss break time chatting with friends Now I rest alone until brain break ends The teachers try to keep kids active But exercising alone is not attractive Walking to town with a friend Was once a treat until it had to end Gone are the in-person enrichments and clubs like history, book, drama, and journalism with buds I miss the approaching sound of the bus Announcing the end of the day for all of us Now it’s just a click and a thank you Zoom out the day is done— we push through For our future, for all humankind, we have a common wish, A return to our normal life, before Covid turned our world into a petri dish
Young Bloggers
Autumn is here and so are the Nobel Prizes!
If you are living in the northern hemisphere, autumn is a time for enjoying all kinds of colorful fall activities such as leaf peeping, apple picking, pumpkin carving, shopping endlessly for the perfect Halloween costume, trick or treating and rounding off October with a sugar rush or even tummy ache! While many of us are exploring autumn in its full glory, scientists, physicians, writers, economists and humanitarians around the world are patiently waiting for the biggest announcement of the year – the Nobel Prize. Alfred Nobel was a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor and philanthropist who gave away a lot of his money to charity. He invented the dynamite and smokeless gun powder among many other things. Using his invention, explosives of all kinds were being manufactured all over the world. This way, he became very rich. He was worried about what people would think of him because of how he made his fortune. He had no wife or children to give his fortune to. So, before died in 1896, he made a will and donated all his fortune to a prize fund named after him. The Nobel prize was set up to recognize curiosity, creativity, courage and outstanding achievements that brought the greatest benefit to humankind. The winners are called Nobel Laureates. It is given in five categories: Medicine, Chemistry, Physics, Literature and Peace. A 6th prize for economics was added to the list in 1969. Every year, each Nobel Prize is announced on different dates. These dates fall in the second week of October. The prizes are awarded in December. The Peace Prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. All other prizes are awarded at a banquet in Stockholm, Sweden. Each category can be won by up to three people. Only the Peace Prize can be awarded to an organization. Each winner gets a unique gold medal, a hand-crafted diploma and a large sum of money. This year’s Laureates are: ● Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A. Doudna for the Chemistry Prize. These two female chemists are recognized for the discovery of “genetic scissors” that can edit genes and help cure inherited diseases! ● The Literature Prize is awarded to American female poet Louise Glück. Her writing is recognized for being sharp and able to draw in people who don’t usually read poems. ● The Medicine Prize goes to three researchers – Charles M. Rice, Harvey J. Alter, and Michael Houghton, for the discovery of the virus Hepatitis C. Sometimes, sick people might need to get blood transferred to them from others donors. Before this amazing discovery, there was a high risk of getting contaminated blood due to the virus. Now, their discovery has led to safe blood transfusion. The doctors know to look for this virus. ● The Physics Prize goes to three researchers for the discovery of Black holes and its existence at the center of our galaxy! The recipients are Sir Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez. ● The Peace Prize goes to The World Food Program. They combat hunger and make sure more people have food. They prevent war from occuring due to hunger. ● The Economics Prize is awarded to Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson for their work on auctions. Auctions are used in our everyday lives to allot all kinds of resources. For example, imagine there is a jar of coins and you need estimate the total value of the coins. The most optimistic player would estimate a large value and pay an amount much more than the true value of the jar to buy it. This is called a “winner’s curse.” The person that won the estimate is actually one that lost because they paid much more than the actual worth of the jar. Paul R. Milgrom and Robert B. Wilson have worked to improve this bidding process. Why is all this relevant for us to know? The Nobel Prize website has lots of resources that explain all the outstanding contributions in a kid-friendly way. Learning about this can be very inspiring to us and we can aspire to make contributions to humankind in our own unique way!
Goodbye, Summer
The deep green of the sea splashes in my face as I hear the roaring of the waves blank out people’s voices; the sand burning my feet as I first walk in. The shells, once home to clams and crabs, feel soft. Some young ones; rough and thick as erosion hasn’t worked its effect on them yet. As I lay back on my towel, I see aerial advertisements flying overhead, and hear the propeller whirring around. As I look into my book, a glass of cold water in my hand, I can smell the salt water of the sea, and feel the sand between my feet. I grab my pail and shovel, dump water on the dry hot sand, scoop the now wet sand into the pail, and make a big sand castle. Now, I challenge myself to dig a pit and find some damp sand deep inside. I dig and dig, now it feels damp, I dig some more, it’s easy to clamp! I dip my feet in the water once more, and then I hear, “It’s time to go!” We pack our stuff and walk away, I know we’ll come back another day.
