COVID-19

Battle of the Bugs: Corona Versus the Learning Bug TRINA CHAITANYA, 8 Hola! Me Llamo Trina Chaitanya Vivo en Mumbai Soy estudiante en Dhirubhai Ambani International Escuela Me gusta los animales y pero Oh sorry that was from my Spanish class I wish I hadn’t said it out. Alas! As you know Corona brought our lives to a halt But it also gave me some cool things to flaunt So hello, My name is Trina Chaitanya I live in Mumbai I am a proud student of Dhirubhai Ambani International School I love animals, especially my dog So the other thing I learned along Was that one glitch can do serious wrong Algorithm, API, runtime, data, token All these words have entered my lexicon Meet one of the youngest certified game coders The title sits easy on my shoulders Cough cough I told you I have this habit to show off Then again I learned that you can jump and click your heels, By doing Kathak chakkars 20 times without squeals, The gods bless you when you tie your ankle bells or ghungroo, And pray to the lord through footwork I tell you, My maths has gone way past tables I can add, subtract, divide and multiply in fables My vocabulary and grammar Are stretching it out in substance and glamour My biggest learning was that nothing will stop And the best mantra came from those at the top Just like water always finds its outlet So does the mind in this gauntlet Our teachers gave us virtual classes And battled all the technical crashes Every time they asked us not to chat They said it with a smile, I doff my hat We study from home so we can learn But my teachers taught me never to yearn Because the Learning Bug is winning across days, As we open our minds to learning in new ways.

2020 was a disastrous year, but many good things came out of it. There’s a quote that says, “Sometimes you have to put up with the rain to get to the rainbow.” But we didn’t only put up with the rain, we fought through it. There was a terrible virus, a president who divided us, and heroes who died fighting. This is our story. In March, a terrible virus called Coronavirus, or just COVID-19, came from China to the US, and we all had to go down into lockdown. We had to sanitize almost everything, bleach our groceries, wear masks when we went out, and stay six feet apart. Now we don’t have to sanitize everything, or bleach our groceries, but we still have to wear masks and stay six feet apart. We also have a vaccine, that’s coming out soon! We’re slowly getting through this. Together. For the past four years, we’ve had a president that divided our nation. But we are a nation who stands united, we are the United States. In the presidential election, it was a very close call. But in the end, Joe Biden won. President Trump claimed it was a fraud, and demanded a recount. Some states did recount, and he got a few more votes, but Biden still won. People die every year. But this year especially. Chadwick Boseman was an African-American actor who acted in many famous movies. He died on August 28, 2020. Ruth Bader Ginsburg was the first Jewish woman on the Supreme Court, and the second woman, after Sandra Day O’Connor. She died on September 18, 2020. George Floyd wasn’t a big celebrity, but his death might’ve been the most moving. He was an African-American man killed during an arrest after a store clerk said he had passed a counterfeit $20 bill in Minneapolis. A white police officer knelt on George’s neck for 8 minutes and 46 seconds, before he slipped away. His famous last words were, “I can’t breathe.” George Floyd was only one of many African-Americans who were killed by police. Rest in power, you are not forgotten. The terrible virus, the disputed election, and the heartbreaking deaths really educated many people. It brought us together, and told us that we need to start doing something. Together. As a united country.