“You have a whole generation who have never lived through anything like this. They never went to war, were never drafted. They never went through a national crisis. This is going to shake them… They’re hurt, they’re scared. But they are also learning through this and they’re going to be better people for it and better citizens for it.”
Andrew Cuomo, New York State Governor, March 26, 2020
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I’ve been in quarantine since March 12th (though quarantine officially began on the 17th), and I wonder what is it like for other teens. Initially, the news told me only the facts, but not the experiences. Now, the news tells me the experiences – but never those of teens.
I started this site to hear the other perspectives: namely, that of teenagers. What’s it like for teens stuck at home? What about teens in other countries around the world, places that haven’t made global headlines? Everyone has a different story, a different experience, regardless of where they are. How has the coronavirus impacted you?
They say that this crisis will shape our generation. What do you think?
I used to live in New York City, but currently live in the Bay Area, in the heart of Silicon Valley. I’m a freshman at the Harker School in San Jose. The first case of known community transmission in the U.S. was in my county, along with the first known U.S. death. But before we knew that, we saw disaster unfolding in Italy, where I had spent a few weeks last summer. And although Taiwan ultimately escaped the worst, in January, I had just returned from visiting family and worried about them.
I was fortunate enough to know a group of international students from having studied with them at the Goethe Institut in Germany last summer, so I reached out to see what was going on in their lives – setting this project into motion.
History matters, and we’re living history right now. By making an archive of our experiences – of teen experiences – we can ensure that the history of this pandemic will include the voices of teens.
Rupert Chen