A Grateful Moment

Everyone has had their share of struggles this year. Within days we all lost contact from daily tasks, some of us dealing with other circumstances other than the lockdowns from Covid-19.

When I stopped going to school and couldn't use outside resources to help me with certain tasks, I felt overwhelmed with confusion and emptiness. Between planning on how to use all the time I had, and stressing on time I'm losing, the cherry on top was when my computer stopped working a week after quarantine started. It was an HP desktop, crashed from being overheated and it had been used by my siblings and I for almost six years.

I lost years of photographs from most of my childhood, recordings of songs my mom sang, collages and video edits of events, and my platinum-4 rank in League of Legends.

The games weren't that bad, I can always play again but the hours of time put into making audios for vlogs on baking and traveling, which I never got to post. The bookmarks of items I was saving up for, like a Nikon Z50 video camera or SkullCandy wireless headphones. All these specific pieces made it hard for me to accept losing my digital work while being stuck home for months. School was opening up virtually as well, and I was worried on how I would continue my education without my computer.

This may seem all gloomy but nonetheless the rest of this story shows the fortunate moments I have experienced.

I am part of a program called Philadelphia Futures, and they support students that come from low-income families, and are first-generation-to-attend-college scholars. My father was a taxi driver, and my mom stayed at home. I reached out to my coordinator, and she notified me of a Covid-19 laptop fund.

The day a Futures staff delivered the laptop to my doorstep, I could not contain my happiness. Who knew an electronic device could light up my eyes without the screen on?

A laptop is a vital in these times as it is like a portable desktop. I can use it sitting anywhere in my house, and it is easier to do college research than on my phone. As a high school junior, it is vital to consider what I want to do in the future that correlate to my interests. I am grateful for receiving a laptop, being able to get work done and do my own things has helped deal with the loss of my previous daily occurrences, such as doing Khan Academy assignments and editing my science project slides on my phone. Having a laptop also helped me try unfamiliar activities online- video chatting with friends to study in a safer way during the pandemic, stream movies with family on calls, and join virtual workshops and college campus visits.

Without this laptop, I don't know how I would've stayed on top of my school work and experience fun virtual activities. I am grateful to be able to learn more on my own, with more time to figure out what I want to major in college, at which college. None of this would have occurred without Philadelphia Futures and the people who donated to the organization during the Covid-19 pandemic.