Jazmin Galloway
This piece is my declaration that I made it. I wrote a piece about what kind of legacy I wanted to leave behind for future students of Albany High School, based on a prompt my Creative Writing teacher gave us. That piece inspired this one.
Resilience; In my words, the act of never giving up when you fail no matter the odds. The quarantine of 2020 put me up against a lot of odds. Between juggling home life, not seeing my friends, not being able to go to award ceremonies, and birthday parties. Having to continue school work and learn things I wasn’t able to comprehend on my own, juggling what I consider entertainment and boredom. I had to fight a lot of these things, not alone, but I did. Who was going to tell me that this was going to happen during my senior year of high school? Who was going to let me know that I would have several mental breakdowns before turning in my homework late? No one knew this was coming. I am sure someone could argue that at least one person knew. But I didn’t, and it affected me greatly.
Those things you dream about when your younger, prom, graduation, you know. Small comforting events with your family, or just the promise of some time alone with your thoughts. Hanging out at the mall, if that’s your thing. Or the library. These were stripped from me, from us.
I miss the rare times I would go out for ice cream or take a walk. Which I mean was rare, but now it’s bittersweet. I wouldn’t even think of doing that at a time like this.
Why is it so hard to appreciate all that free time when all we begged for was free time? Well, it’s because we appreciate all the things that could fill our day, besides the big things that had to. Those little pleasures. Walking your dog without crossing the street every time you see something in the distance that moved, riding your bike without a mask covering the wind from blessing your face. Looking outside to the bustling street of people on their way to their futures.
NY is tough, sure we are. Resilience can run in anyone’s blood. It does run in everyone’s blood. But we’re also tired. Tired of being locked in the house, missing out on important events. We want normalcy. I know I do. But also after this, I will have bounced back much stronger. As they say, “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
Stay strong.
Albany High School