This Pandemic is something I never thought would happen. It feels like something you would only fear would happen, only in a movie or such. It was only then when the president announced a national emergency. Truly, I didn't think much of it. All I did was celebrate. Sounds strange, right? Well, my mind was focused on other things - school being canceled, no more homework. It felt like a relief. I was finally free from the stress of all the words and notes we had to memorize, all the complaints from the teachers saying we were being too loud, all the pressure. But that was not all. This school year was not just a pain because of all the work and pressure put on me, it was also because I was experiencing bullying. In the movies, the bully always loses and the so-called “nerd” always ended up with a happily ever after. I waited and waited for my “happily ever after” but I never received it until this pandemic. Well, it wasn't necessarily the happy ending I expected. I expected sooner, before the rumors, lies, and gossip, but I realized I didn't live in a movie. Even if I did though, I don't think I would receive my happy ending. You see, in these movies, they lived in a stereotypical world. Don't get me wrong, stereotypes still live on in these days, but they're quite different from the movies. In the movies, there would be a “geek” or “nerd” who constantly got picked on from the “jock” In my scenario, it was quite different. These girls would pick on me for not being in advanced classes yet they would go around failing from wasting their time by gossiping and chasing after every boy in sight. Every mean comment, rumor, or lie told about me broke me down even more. I used to come home to my room and lay in bed, my thoughts debating whether I'm smart enough, pretty enough, good enough. It was all too much to handle as one day I broke into tears as my mother kissed me goodnight. “What's Wrong?” She asked. That's when I broke. I told her everything from the gossip to the little lies told about my family. My mother hugged me, “It's okay. Those girls are just jealous.” I rolled my eyes at this overused phrase. My mother tries again, “When I was your age, there was always this girl who would tease me and put me down. It was horrible. I used to cry every day. One day I had enough of it. I stood up to her. I told her off. From then I just learned to ignore people like that, those ignorant people. Now it's your time to ignore them and stand up to them.” I looked up at her and muttered, “ I guess so.” My mother hugged me and left the room. It might not have been a grand talk or a life-changing speech, but it was good to know I wasn't alone. Yet the rumors kept coming. They were quite hard to ignore but I kept my head up and tried my best. That's when “my happily ever after” started to begin. A couple of weeks after my mother's small pep talk, this virus started to spark a few interests around our city. First, it was one tiny case that went away. After it was two, then three, but they came out perfectly fine. That's when panic started to calm down, until one day, while I was at a friend's house to deliver a small gift, the first case was confirmed in our city. We didn't think much of it until it started to get to fifty, one hundred, then five hundred, now here we sit at home, knowing our country has over a million cases. Schools and shops of all kinds started to close down, no more education, no more movies to watch at the theater, no more going to the park after school. For most, this was a beginning to a sad world, but for me, it was my beginning to a happy life. I know, still sounds strange. I thought my days were going to be filled with fun and carefree games when I found out school was canceled for the rest of the year, but then I started to feel dull. I started to feel lonely and lazy. Not only that, I started to realize how much was happening in this world. I realized the world is not just me, it's so much more. Sounds cheesy, I know. I remember flipping on the news channel to find it all. The cases started to surge, people were being killed for the color of their skin, and a dramatic amount of people were dying. At that moment it hit me. People were suffering, dying, and I hadn't noticed. Even in my own life, there were difficulties I had not paid any attention too. My family was separated, I could not see my grandmother who was going into several operations and trying to keep herself safe in the process. There were several nights when we received a phone class from my grandmother in Peru, saying she may have this deadly virus yet to this day, my whole family is healthy and safe from any danger. Now, I realize how lucky I am, how lucky I am to simply be alive. Of course, I still worry about all the little things but really at the end of the day, I'm just happy to wake up in the morning with my loving and healthy family.