Student writers reflect on a pandemic that changed their lives — and their futures
Coping as we all are with the current pandemic, good friends at Peninsula High School, Kara Beloate, English and Drama Instructor, and Julie Bruey, English Language Arts Teacher, encouraged their students to write about their experience with the pandemic and how it has changed their future.
“We believe that our students have important things to say and that they should be heard,” said Kara Beloate. “Our hope was to inspire our students with meaningful and purposeful work, to engage them in school and in their futures.”
Added Julie Bruey, “In this time of remote learning, Kara and I saw an opportunity to publish amidst the pandemic. Technology has transformed learning and teaching. ‘As Winston Churchill is purported to have said, ‘Never let a crisis go to waste.’ We have a crisis. Make sure it doesn’t go to waste!
In this column, we’ll hear from 18-year-olds, Jonathan Erben, Josie, Hampton, Isabella Greenfield, and Kaitlyn Tucker, and 17-year-old twins Katie Mandarino and Claire Mandarino, talented young writers with a clear-eyed view.
Their stories
Josie Hampton will be attending Ithaca College next fall.
“The moment the tortoise crossed the finish line before the hare was the moment I fell permanently in love with stories.,” she writes. “It was a lesson about patience and arrogance. I acquired fairy tales from my grandmother, family anecdotes from my grandfather, fables from my father and a little bit of everything from my mother. I had discovered the greatest thing in life.
“Then I discovered movies. One day I stayed to see hundreds of names scrolled through the length of the screen. I asked my dad, ‘What do all those names mean?’ He replied, ‘Those are all the people who helped make the movie.’ I knew I had to learn more. “In a bookstore, a copy of Harry Potter, ‘Page to Screen,’ listed directing, casting, sets, concepts, etc. The more I learned about movies, the more magical it became actual jobs. I’d found a story I could live in real life. I want to tell my own stories in movies.
“”My fictional friends taught me to be curious, brave, helpful, compassionate, inquisitive, and most importantly to be myself. I believe my place is as a storyteller. and hope to inspire others with my own stories.”
Jonathan Erben, writes,“As a kid I was astounded by thoughts of space, stars, and other universes. I consider an astro-based occupations because of what could be discovered deeper in the void. I plan to enter a four-year college and major in aerospace engineering. I will pursue a career helping design spacecraft to help advance technology creating a better system for space travel.
“I aspire to have a career in the STEM field heavy in math and science-based professions - mainly a physics-based profession. I’ve always understood math and have a liking for sciences. I plan to enter the engineering field because I love dismantling and reassembling mechanisms to discover how they function
Practice makes perfect.
Katie Mandarino writes about her experience as a student coach in middle-school track and field.
“I was an uneducated eighth-grader struggling to teach an impatient sixth-grader who had never held a discus before how to twist the body, turn the feet and use the correct grip all while not falling over. After the first practice, I wanted to quit and tell the coaches I couldn’t teach beginners how to throw. Next practice, I realized that everyone learns at a different pace and in different ways, even me, so I went one-on-one and taught each athlete how to throw.
“To achieve, one must first practice, then practice again until it becomes habitual. Almost every teacher, trainer, coach, parent, etc. has said, ‘Practice makes perfect.’ It is true. In my 17 years, there has not been one time I didn’t practice and the result was complete satisfaction. From playing guitar, to writing cursive, to memorizing the alphabet, to throwing the discus — there has never been one time when practicing resulted in failure.
One day we had a student meeting with HOSA, the medical club at PHS. I had an interest in studying medicine because my twin sister was interested in the field. Two years later, I am the vice-president of HOSA alongside my sister.
“As I continue in HOSA and train for my next and last season of track this spring, the commonality and opportunities that have come from both track and HOSA have guided me towards becoming a registered nurse. First, because I learned that I will never give up a chance to help somebody out. Second, I learned that failing is part of learning.”
Said Isabella Greenfield, “I have wanted many careers in my life, to be a marine biologist, movie producer, paleontologist, archaeologist, pyrotechnician, police officer, doctor, mortician, librarian and so on. Recently, I chose zoo veterinarian. I would probably do well in this career.
I’ve always been an animal lover and love helping people get better. I can do a job shadow at the veterinary office in Gig Harbor, volunteer at a local animal shelter and the zoo on weekends.
“I want to go to college and major in veterinary medicine. Once I have the ability to practice, I’ll find a zoo that needs a veterinarian. I feel that working as a veterinarian is the best fit for me.
“Because I am so focused on school and classes,” said Isabella, “I often forgot that I have to get a job after college in order to survive. In my years in PHS, I have learned that when you are unsure about something, trust your instincts. If you are wrong, that’s okay. Considering the hundreds of careers, I’ve struggled finding a job I’ll be good at and love. I have found the career that I think I would be best at.”
A roller-coaster ride
“This past year has been a crazy ride,” said Kaitlyn Tucker. “I have decided to change my plan of what I want to do going back and forth. Reminds me of the rockin’ roller coaster at Hollywood Studios. You go from zero to 57 mph in 2.8 seconds and rocket through three loops which are like my post high school plans that changed dramatically due to COVID-19.
“My plan after PHS was to move to Florida. I wanted to work at Disney World and go to a community college to save money. Then to a four-year college still working at Disney and get a degree for graphic design.
“Because of the loops and twists of COVID-19,” said Kaitlyn, “I realized I don’t want to move to Florida away from my parents, sister, and friends. I have decided to go to a community college but in Washington. The roller coaster has taught me that I can still choose to slow down, reflect, enjoy the ride.
“I’ve been practicing graphic design four years and taken two school classes where I have learned a lot in Photoshop and Illustrator,” said Kaitlyn. “
“It’s been said by an unknown source, ‘Maybe the journey isn’t so much about becoming anything. Maybe it’s about unbecoming everything that isn’t really you, so you can be who you were meant to be in the first place,” said Kaitlyn. “My plans have changed. I can’t wait to see where the next loop, twist, or turn takes me.”
For more, please contact Kara Beloate at <beloatek@psd401.net> or Julie Bruey at <brueyj@psd401.net>
This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 5:30 AM.