As an organization run by Asian youth and for Asian youth, we at AAOP have experienced the impact of the pandemic on youth each day for over three years. The pandemic has touched every part of our lives, from health, to school, to family, to work. That’s why, in this third summer of the pandemic, we’re reaching out to Asian youth to ask them to share their stories of navigating the pandemic, as well as their hopes for the coming months. We talked to Demyce who shares their experiences with COVID-19, how it’s impacted their schooling, and why they thought the vaccine was important.
Hello, my name is Demyce and I am a high school student. A fun fact about me is that I love to do weightlifting, can play 4 instruments; the violin, piano, drums, and trumpet, play football, and paint! I am always surrounded by music whether it’s through listening on my phone/ computer or playing on my piano.
The pandemic has made a huge impact on my life as it made relationships with family members and even some friends complicated, as well as my education. I am more of a visual and in-person learner and the pandemic took that away from me. It made me struggle a lot in school as I felt so limited for help and caused a bad habit of mine which is procrastination. But overtime, it did help me a lot in finding more about myself and the people surrounding me. It made a lot of challenges for me and my family, but I am also grateful as it made us grow closer than ever.
Yes I have had COVID-19 and my experience felt like a terrible, terrible cold. The first signs I had received of COVID-19 was constant headaches and an itchy throat which led me to get tested for the safety of me and my family. After finding out I was positive, I was in shock. I was always so careful about me and my surroundings which led me to be in disbelief when I found out, but I knew what had to be done in order to stop the spread of COVID-19 to my loved ones in the household. Being quarantined for 2 weeks made me feel sad, lonely, and bored out of my mind but it also made me feel so appreciative for my family. They took wonderful care of me by cooking warm foods, checking up on me daily, and always asked if I needed anything. I feel forever grateful and loved because I don’t know how it would’ve been if it wasn’t for them supporting me by my side though COVID-19.
To start off, as much as everyone has their own opinion on the COVID vaccination, I would like to say that the COVID-19 vaccine helped me a lot! I recently got COVID-19 in early May 2022 and I’ve heard a lot of stories from everyone who had gotten COVID, but did not receive the vaccination at the time. They explained to me how severe it was and how they felt like they were on their deathbeds and honestly it got me really scared. But knowing that I was fully vaccinated gave me some sort of safety, support, and comfort by knowing that the vaccine would help me by giving me a bigger chance to fight against COVID-19. My symptoms weren’t as severe as the people who didn’t receive the vaccination as far as I’ve heard. Don’t get me wrong though, it was still bad of course but I knew it in me that the vaccine will help me overcome COVID-19 and it did! I am back to the healthy me and living my best life! I know that everyone’s body may react differently but it’s honestly their choice to get vaccinated and up to them if they trust the vaccine or not, but I would personally highly recommend it as I believe that it saved me from getting admitted to the hospital.
The conversations I had with family and friends about vaccinations were really open. Majority, including my immediate family, agreed that vaccination was key to helping us from catching a bad case of COVID-19. We still supported loved ones who were iffy or against COVID-19 vaccination as it’s understandable to be cautious about what enters our bodies, but we would still recommend them to get it done for the safety of themselves and others.