by Angela Moore | Jul 12, 2022 | Leonia High School
It was the middle of 8th grade when my passion for art started growing. From little doodles on my school notebooks to full-on sketches and drawings, I started testing my art skills and abilities on my own for fun. I was always artistic my whole life, but during this time, I began taking it more seriously. I gradually became more and more interested in the diversity of art, specifically focusing on drawing and painting. I would constantly engage in TikTok and Youtube videos, and Instagram posts of different ideas, techniques, tutorials and more. This led me to start buying new supplies and spend time trying my best to master these skills. I also began taking art lessons with my grandma, who happened to be a very talented artist who specializes in oil painting. Through her, I was able to receive guidance and advice.
Through the help and encouragement from my friends, family, teachers, and especially my grandma, I decided to apply for the art academy they offered at my high school. After weeks of building my portfolio, I made it in! I was really excited and looked forward to continuing my art journey in high school.
When COVID arrived, I told myself that I would use this time to work on my art more. However, I had to stop taking lessons from my grandma. I had all the time in the world during this time yet I felt I wasn’t using it wisely. I was doing everything I could do under the COVID restrictions except progressing with my art. I was watching strangers progress with their art through a screen instead.
This art block I was going through continued throughout the next year. The only time I drew was when I had to for my art class, which was a very easy class that I didn’t put much effort into. I didn’t use my own time to improve or to draw just for fun. My pencil case and sketchbooks were sitting in the corner of my desk collecting dust. Deep down I felt guilty and stuck, but my lack of motivation prevented me from doing anything more.
Eventually, I decided to enroll in an Advanced Conservatory Art class. After over a long year of not doing enough for art, I decided to push myself. Although this meant harder prompts, more rigorous due dates, and higher expectations, I felt the urge to make up for what I haven’t done during quarantine.
In the end, going through this art block helped not only to build my general art skills, but my perseverance. The struggles I faced in lacking creativity, teaching myself new techniques and materials I was unfamiliar with were all worth it in the end for all the lessons I learned.
by Angela Moore | Jul 12, 2022 | Leonia High School
I failed to find anyone outside on the walkway near my house. A path once filled with different families in my neighborhood was now empty, leaving me and my family by ourselves. Ever since I was young, this walkway has connected me with my friends. Now, it was empty.
I remember the early days of COVID were bleak and grim, but my mom made sure that we walked in order to substitute for all of our sports that had unexpectedly come to an end. It was disheartening to see a lonely town with no one in sight. Likewise, instead of the bright lights, New York City was covered by clouds and fog -I looked across the Hudson River to find all of the lights turned off in the “city that never sleeps.”
Despite this, I continued to go on walks with my family. These walks were our only sense of freedom and escape from our home that was growing more confined each day. As the weather grew warmer and the daily COVID cases grew smaller, more families started to emerge from their homes and walked with us. My family and I were able to see many familiar faces and were able to communicate face to face for the first time in several months.
Throughout the summer, I even met new people in my neighborhood through the walkway. During the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement in June, I helped kids on the walkway inform people in our neighborhood about the movement through chalk. We drew faces of the victims who faced brutality and important statistics. I was able to connect with new kids since school and it felt good to be a part of a change.
I remember one night I looked across the Hudson River to find the city lit up again. Every light was on in every building, and it looked as though the pandemic had never happened. It seemed as if everyone’s world was filled with brightness once again.
The walkway was full once again. And so, it seems, was my heart.
by Angela Moore | Jul 12, 2022 | Cliffside Park High School
My business is beauty, but it wasn’t always.
Because of quarantine, my once fast-paced lifestyle completely slowed down, finally giving me time for myself. I knew I still wanted to work on something, and so the idea came to my friend and I to acquire new skills and to start a business. While we weren’t able to see each other much because of COVID, everytime we did, I practiced doing eyelash extensions on her and she practiced doing nails on me.
I would spend countless hours watching videos, practicing on a mannequin or my mother. Throughout that summer, I worked on social media to try to create a brand for myself even though I couldn’t actually take on any clients. I also learned so much about the business world and what really goes into it from finances to marketing. It was tough to start since everyone was so fearful of being around one another, but I had to do the most with what I had.
In early 2021, I was finally able to become a certified technician and have now done over 200 sets of eyelashes. Without COVID ever happening, I wouldn’t have found the time or passion to do extensions and actually grow a career.
That’s kind of a beautiful business too.
by Angela Moore | Jul 12, 2022 | Leonia High School
It wasn’t until December 2021 that my oldest brother could finally get married, almost two whole years after COVID started. Time and time again, the virus forced the two to postpone their wedding. But finally, it was the big day.
The week before Christmas, family and friends from all over the country had gathered in Orlando, which is home to the happiest place on Earth – Disney World! It had been so long since we’d talked to everyone because of the pandemic. Although the guest list was limited, seeing old friends and meeting new faces was both awkward and joyous.One by one, everyone started filtering into the venue for the wedding ceremony.
The wedding was hosted by Disney. As expected, the building was spectacular. A bright, white bridge followed a white, castle-like pavilion with large glass doors and roofs pointing towards the sky. Flowers fluttered merrily in the wind, as if they were celebrating with us. Inside, a light blue carpet cut through rows of white benches, leading to the shining center of the building.
As the ceremony commenced, the only thing I remember is staring at the dreamlike display in front of my eyes. The view in front of me was just so dazzling. My brother, in a gray suit, and my sister-in-law, donned in a white wedding dress that cascaded behind her, stood, eyes locked, their hands clasped. They were radiant. I was so touched that I shed tears, but I didn’t wipe them. I couldn’t look away, even for a second.
Such a beautiful event had almost never happened because of the pandemic. Of course, it was able to happen eventually, but the wedding’s inevitable delay makes me a bit bitter. If the virus never hit us, we wouldn’t have had to sanitize, wear masks, or social distance throughout the wedding. But even so, after coping with the gloominess of the pandemic for so long, the wedding gave me, my family, and friends a precious moment to remember. Even though the world has been tormented by COVID-19, there will always be small, lovely, and happy moments to hold close to our hearts.
by Angela Moore | Jul 12, 2022 | Cliffside Park High School
I met a nice teacher, Ms. Shawala. She leads my vocal music class. The first day back for in-person learning, she told me that this year we were going to have two concerts. The first was the winter concert and the other was the spring concert. We started to practice the four songs for the winter concert but it was hard because we had to use face masks. Sometimes, we would go outside to the big field to practice so we could take off our face masks and breathe a little more. Soon, however, the weather was getting too cold and we could not go outside and we had to practice inside of the class and had to put our face masks back on.
The winter concert was getting closer and closer. Ms. Shawala told us that we can’t take off our face masks when we are singing in the concert. She tried to find a way we could sing with the face mask and breathe a little better by buying some face mask brackets. We were practicing with the face mask bracket that she found on Amazon but they were so uncomfortable. We could breathe a little more, but it was still difficult to breathe because some parts of the songs are very difficult to sing.
The last two days before the winter concert we went to the stage to practice all the songs. We had to practice how we were going to enter and exit the stage and how we were going to sit down in the concert. One of my classmates fell back off the stage and was scared that she would get hurt. The thing is, she was feeling nervous about the concert because she had one of the solos. We all were feeling nervous.
On the day of the concert, I tried my best to sing with a face mask and the brackets underneath.
When the ensemble were singing, I went outside for a breather. I got back to the audience and I saw Ms Shawala. She was happy for us because she said there was no winter concert last year. This year we had a concert. She was not too happy because we had to use a face mask but she was satisfied that we did a nice concert and was thankful for all the hard work we did together.
Ms Shawala said to me that I did something that I never could do before: sing in front of people. You think a mask could stop that?
