Aloha.

I am Mina Suzuki, a HIKI NŌ journalist and senior at H.P.

Baldwin High School on Maui.

On this special edition of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i, we take you back to March 2020 as COVID-19 escalates into a global pandemic impacting every one of us.

It is a time none of us will forget; a time when everything changed.

In Spring of 2020, I was a freshman at Baldwin.

And when I say everything changed, I mean everything - school, social and family life, extracurriculars, sports and exercise, and our opportunities and expectations for the future.

Fortunately, we HIKI NŌ students had an outlet to express our thoughts, emotions and experiences as our lives turned upside down.

And because of this, we now have an incredible archive documenting our experience in real time; a time that will put my generation in the history books.

I think they're going to be ones that will help document this whole ordeal.

They'll be able to give fresh insight from a child or youngster’s perspective, you know.

Now, as life returns to yet another new normal, we want to share some of this historic treasure with you.

I hope you'll join me on a journey we're calling: This Changed Everything: HIKI NŌ in the Age of COVID.

This is the first of five episodes chronicling our lives through the first two years of the historic worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

Our storytellers go to school here in Hawai‘i.

However, our story starts 5,000 miles away in Washington D.C., where hundreds of HIKI NŌ students traveled to attend the annual Student Television Network convention and competition, scheduled to convene on March 12, 2020, only to have it canceled at the last minute, when COVID-19 is officially declared a pandemic the day before.

Shock, the, the entire, everybody was just shocked.

We sat there in silence for like, a solid minute.

STN was canceled, STN was canceled.

And we were like, “What?” Everyone was in shock.

Everyone was in disbelief.

And some of us, we’d just break down.

Like, I cried a lot, and we just like, stuck together because we're super sad.

We're heartbroken.

It just was kind of surreal, like, all of the anticipation and all the excitement just went away, like, just like that.

[singing] So, we knew we couldn't compete, and we couldn't join any of the categories in the competitions.

But we knew we still wanted to do something that kind of captured our trip, and something to show for it.

We're gonna go and do a documentary.

So, uh, the entirety of the STN crew is working on this, either getting interviewed, shooting B roll, or just editing.

And so, that's how we're going to try and keep our spirits up and practice what we're doing a little bit more.

Storytelling is what we came here to do, and that's what we're really passionate about.

But at the end of the day, all we really care about is being able to practice and film and edit and work together.

So, we thought it'd be a really cool idea to make a story about not only our experience, but all the other students’ experiences, finding, finding the light in this kind of situation.

So, like, I think the most disappointing part about everything is, um, doing all that hard work, and it just sucks to see that all the work that we did, kind of got like, thrown away.

Even with a heartbreak feeling, everyone came together and thought about the situation in a more positive way.

This is an opportunity for my kids to be real journalists.

This is not a synthetic prompt.

This is not a six-hour contest or something.

This is not – this is real, actual journalism.

[slow music] And just like professional journalists, we HIKI NŌ students would be recording the first draft of history as we experience it firsthand.

When the students in D.C. returned to Hawai‘i, they discovered that life back home has changed dramatically during the short time they've been away.

Students like Taylor McCann pivot quickly from the disappointment of the convention to a strange new reality back home.

Hi, this is Taylor McCann from Waiākea High School coming to you from my home.

The Coronavirus pandemic has indefinitely affected my family socially, emotionally, and economically.

My mom is still working a nine to five job five days a week.

Every day when she gets home from work, she immediately disinfects her shoes and protective mask outside and throws her work clothes into the wash. After showering off her day's worth of germs, she's able to greet the family and sit down for dinner with us.

Since she's the only person in our family who's regularly leaving the house, she's asked me and my sister to take on the task of cooking dinner.

That way, we aren't risking spreading any germs to each other from the outside world through our foods.

With most of my family home 24/7, we've been making the most out of our situation by spending time with each other and finding new ways to keep our minds off of the stress we've been dealing with.

Most importantly, we're making the best effort we can to stay inside, stay healthy, and stay informed in our community.

[slow music] Beatriz Garlitos is a grandmother from Waipahu that is helping keep her family protected by sewing handmade masks.

Uh, I started making masks since the virus was spread.

I just copied the regular mask using my old, uh, fabrics from my recent work.

With Coronavirus spreading across the islands, the need for face masks is at an all-time high.

As of May 9, 2020, Hawai‘i alone had nearly 629 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Everybody knows that, um, Coronavirus is deadly.

We can catch the virus or the disease from, uh, a symptomatic person and we can transfer it to our family and our loved ones.

Symptoms of Coronavirus include fever, chills, repeated shaking, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and loss of taste or smell.

Oh, I used to work in a clothing factory.

That's where I learned.

I have the motivation because instead of buying masks, I just made from my old scrap fabrics.

I love seeing my family members wearing the masks that I made.

By wearing a mask, you can help prevent the spread of the virus and help keep yourself and others safe.

Stay home, practice social distancing, and most of all, uh, frequently washing your hands.

This is Isabella Dela Pena, from Waipahu High School for HIKI NŌ.

[slow music] Hello, my name is Jack Wilcox from Āliumanu Middle School speaking to you from my home.

These times were definitely unexpected, but I've been doing my best to cope with it.

I've been using my third printer to make face masks for my family.

Each mask takes around six hours to print.

So, I've only been able to make a few on the side.

Until then, I'm designing more efficient models so I can make more at a faster rate.

Additionally, I've been printing face shield frames for Hawai‘i Pacific Health.

In about two weeks, I've made around 20 sets and I've already sent them off to their facilities.

It's been good to help out others in the community.

When I got the printer, I never thought it'd be used for something as impactful for this.

It was designed for hobbyists and printing parts.

Still, however, it has proven useful in times like these.

Jack is one of many Hawai‘i residents to pitch in by making masks and embracing the new rules of social distancing and sanitizing.

Meanwhile, the state decides to keep schools closed for another month, and our universe shrinks to home and family.

This means something different for each of us.

For me, it started out okay.

After a hectic start to my freshman year, the pandemic allowed me time to center myself and pursue my interests in cooking and exercise.

Both of my parents are teachers, so they stayed at home with me and my brother.

But for many of my fellow students, the pandemic creates stress and brings new responsibilities and concerns.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, families are being affected.

One family struggling with the lockdown is the Uyeno Family of Makakilo, O‘ahu.

Terry Uyeno is the head of the family and has found himself struggling with his responsibilities.

I work at Ma‘ili Elementary school as a preschool teacher.

For Uyeno, working from home has been a difficult task.

I need to get more into technology, which I’m not, I don't care to do or like to do.

It's not just the changes in technology that Uyeno is facing.

I, I miss my preschool students.

Besides teaching his students, Uyeno I was also faced with the new responsibility of teaching his own children, who are also sheltering in place at home.

He used to do a lot of his work on time and, you know, eager to do it now.

Now he's more laid back.

My thoughts on distant learning is that um, it’s harder to do things at home, because at school I get all my work done.

But at home I, I can't do it because it’s in a different environment.

In addition to his teaching job, Uyeno and his wife are restaurant owners who are struggling to keep their business afloat due to the new COVID-19 mandates.

Before the COVID-19, I, I think I'm successful with the business.

I work very, work hard.

I’m so happy.

So now I think that I feel, I don't know how the future will be going on.

With the restaurant business slowing down significantly, the family is facing other problems.

There are other difficulties in my life besides my school or working as a teacher.

Uh, I have a restaurant.

Uh, I want to make sure we make profit.

Uh, I have homes, make sure the renters are paying their rent.

I don't make money.

I lose money.

We had to work for, work free for pay the rent.

We can’t afford anything.

But even with all the hardships, the Uyeno family has chosen to look at the bright side of their situation.

The good things that the pandemic has given me is spending time with my kids, uh, my families.

As they spend time together, they are looking forward to the day when this pandemic will be over.

My hope for this, uh, pandemic is to find a vaccine, everyone gets healthy or stay healthy, and have normalcy in their life.

I hope the pandemic over for everyone on the world, on the, live healthy life, and everyone get well, can go enjoy the life, go my restaurant, eat the pho.

This is Denise Cabrera from Waianae Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

[slow music] Hello, I'm Dayvan Wong, a fifth grader from Waiākea Elementary School speaking to you from my home.

To be honest, I miss most things, but right now I really miss school.

It's too boring at home so I just really miss it.

To fill the void, I would normally just read books and do homework as if it was school.

Life at home is boring and slow.

After you finish doing homework, you just have too much free time on your hands.

To me, it's like getting chocolate bars - one is okay, but too much drives you crazy.

A good thing that happened is that I’ve gained more patience.

Another good thing is that I've changed my sleep schedule from six o'clock a.m. to seven o'clock or eight o'clock a.m. Something that gives me hope is how people are staying safe and they're doing what's right.

[slow music] Get the chores started.

Vitamins.

Are you going to eat?

I work at a dental office and, and have been unemployed since the beginning of this pandemic.

The struggle, of course, is, you know, money.

Money is something that I try not to worry about.

My family is not alone.

More than 30% of Hawai‘i residents are currently unemployed.

Luckily for us, one of my parents is still working, but even that is a concern.

Unfortunately, with this whole pandemic, um, I am the only person in our family that is employed, um, at this time, which is financially, you know, it's tough.

Um, also, you know, being an essential worker, you know, I'm more exposed to having the virus as well, which I don't want to get.

When I get home, my family is at a chance on getting exposed to the virus.

Hi, everybody.

While my dad worries about bringing the disease home, my mom worries about just being at home.

I think the struggles that everyone might be in the same boat in right now is just being home, stuck with your family.

For most kids being with their family 24/7 seems boring.

But for our family, it's been a blessing.

Our family has become closer by all the time that we spend together, cooking and baking.

Um, we've been doing a lot more board games, a lot of card games.

We even took out the Wii.

All the things that we hardly did before.

H aving a full-time job and then having just most times only on Sundays together as a family after church.

And now we get to spread that out during the week.

The good things that have happened were that we became closer.

My mom, she taught me all the baking basics.

Now I'm doing all the work, which is getting out the ingredients, mixing, uh, measuring, and putting it into the oven.

Look.

Would you like a bowl of – I feel very grateful and thankful that I do have a family because you look at people that don’t have family, that they don't have a family to be with.

I think that's the things that we take for granted.

I agree with my mom.

This time together has made me realize how important family is.

This is Sienna Racoma from Maui Waena Intermediate School for HIKI NŌ.

Once these new routines take hold, many of us start to experience new feelings and emotional responses to our new circumstances.

For some more introverted students, it's a relief not to constantly be confronted with social situations, but many feel lonely, worried, and looking for silver linings in this situation.

Hi, my name is Isabella Rodriguez from ‘Ewa Makai Middle School coming to you from my home during the Coronavirus pandemic.

My parents’ work is considered essential during this time.

This experience has taught me how to be responsible.

For example, I clean the floors, I wipe down counters, I cook my own food, you know, basic chores and responsibilities.

While most kids have their parents home to take care of them and spend time with them, I don't get to enjoy that kind of time with my parents during this time.

It does make me feel a little lonely sometimes, but I try not to let it bother me, you know, mostly because I know my parents are working very hard to keep everybody safe.

And in the end, this whole experience has made me appreciate my parents just a little more.

[slow music] So, I'm working alone, and usually I work there two to three times a week, just one person at the store.

My dad has a bento store.

He opened a bento shop, um, a little before this pandemic started, and that has been really helping us.

Luckily the community supported us.

So, we have some business.

Bento shop is, uh, doing very well.

If my parents go to work, I stay home alone.

And sometimes it's lonely, especially in, um, self-isolation, but, so I feel like it's good to learn to be self-directed and to be responsible for my own things.

Growing up as an only child, at times I feel like I wanted a sibling to help me out or to hang out with, but I definitely think that, um, quarantine and the stay-at-home order has brought me closer to my parents because I hang out with them 24/7 basically.

They figure out ways to make me laugh, make me smile, even when it's like a super boring rainy day at home.

I've definitely gotten closer with them.

Now I appreciate more simple, small stuff and everyday life because it's a miracle everybody's healthy.

I just appreciate more than – everything more than before.

Well, my favorite time was spending more time with family.

You know, I've been so busy and just, I’m so glad and we have real time together.

We usually go on walks together around like, sunset and it's really nice and calming, or we just like, play something like badminton.

And it's just a really great way to get off like, electronics and just talk as a family.

Though being an only child is not that hard, the current stay at home order has pushed her to find more creative ways to stay in touch with friends and to defeat boredom.

When this whole Coronavirus thing wasn't a thing, um, I would have taken nature for granted.

I would have stayed inside and been like, “Oh, it's always there.” But now that I have the chance to go outside and enjoy nature itself, it's really special.

Definitely being an only child has helped me become stronger in this situation.

The interaction with my friends, um, definitely helped me get through this because, um, we're all in this together and we just support each other.

I hope it's gonna be over soon, but you know, this, before corona, and after corona, it's going to be, not going to be same.

I realize that it's gonna like, I can't do anything except practice social distancing and stay at home to make sure that this comes to an end.

After a month at home, on April 17, the state announces that schools will stay closed for the rest of the school year.

This news hits our seniors especially hard as their high school journey comes to a crashing halt, and hopes for an exciting spring with important rites of passage fades away.

Hi, I'm Skylar Masuda from H.P.

Baldwin High School speaking to you from my home.

As a senior, I'm feeling a deep lack of closure, academically and socially.

I've been preparing to move off island and attend college, and this final quarter is meant to be a period of transition.

Now, not only is our graduation ceremony canceled, but I'm missing out on so much precious time with my friends and classmates.

It's hard not to feel selfish when we're mourning these small experiences and not people, but it feels good to talk about this with other seniors.

The best we can do is treat ourselves with understanding and kindness and know that sadness isn't selfish.

It's natural.

Aloha, my name is Elijah Villaroz from Roosevelt High School speaking to you from home.

Ever since the outbreak of COVID-19, my life plus the people around me has been affected.

One night while my mom and I were talking about COVID-19 and affecting my graduation, she said something to me that dawned on me.

She told me that I was born into this world with chaos because I was born a few weeks before 9-11, and now I'm graduating with this world pandemic.

She also mentioned to me that throughout these 18 years of my life, I'm always seeking a positive approach.

I'm going to look towards my future with a positive approach because I know one day that COVID-19 will be over, and we can live our lives normally.

[slow music] Hi, I'm Matthew Nakamura speaking to you from my home in Kailua.

This year I'm a senior graduating from Trinity Christian School.

I think a big legacy of COVID-19 will be the uncertainty of life that we all come face to face with right now.

As we push through this time of isolation, even within our own families, I think a deeper issue we’ll come across is the want and almost need to feel in control.

Some people do this by downplaying the Coronavirus, and other people almost embrace anxiety as a coping mechanism.

But I think it's a chance to look at ourselves in the mirror, and ultimately, it's an opportunity for personal growth.

[slow music] Hi, my name is Amee Neves from Wai‘anae High School and I'm speaking to you from my home.

As a high school senior, I'm feeling a lot of emotions right now.

I'm sad that I'm missing out on these last high school moments that I'm just never gonna get back.

I'm also scared for our kupuna whose lives are most at risk during this tough time.

My auntie and uncle were supposed to come down from the Philippines for my graduation this month and are now stuck in Cebu, where there's very limited healthcare supplies.

I think what we all need to remember in this tough time is to stay positive because this will end one day.

Remember to spread aloha and not Corona.

As the class of 2020 faces the prospect of graduation and isolation and the start of college and jobs in limbo, our student storytellers look toward a long summer featuring more of the same.

Younger students like me expect that everything will be back to normal in the fall, but will it?

We are already learning that normal might never be the same.

I feel like my biggest learning experience is just how fragile life is.

I just hope that we all learn how precious life is and we appreciate everyone that's around us more, because there, there's just so much time we have on Earth, and this is really an experience for us, and I feel like it should be a learning one.

And I think through this experience they’ve, they’ve learned that yes, they are tougher than, you know, even they expected, and they're able to bounce back from disappointment and you know, really, um, take advantage of the opportunity and, and actually, and actually, uh, do something.

In our next episode we'll see how HIKI NŌ students continue to cope with the social and academic challenges and missed opportunities, and how the evolving pandemic upends the 2020 to 2021 school year, forcing students, families and teachers to roll with the punches.

One thing that is working for me is being in the comfort of my own home.

Uh, one thing that's not working well for me is being in the comfort of my own home.

I am Mina Suzuki.

Thank you for joining me on this special HIKI NŌ journey, and be sure to tune in next week for Part Two of “This Changed Everything: HIKI NŌ in the Age of COVID,” Tuesday night at 7:30 on PBS Hawai‘i.

[outro music]