Aloha, I'm Mina Suzuki.

Welcome to the fifth and final installment of our HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i series, This Changed Everything: HIKI NŌ in the Age of COVID.

I'm a HIKI NŌ journalist and a senior at Maui's H.P.

Baldwin High School.

As I'm recording this in fall 2022, we're two and a half years into the COVID-19 pandemic.

And while we're well on the way towards some semblance of normalcy, we're not there yet.

And I think we all know that moving forward, life will never be quite the same.

In our previous episodes, we've taken you from the beginning of COVID in spring 2020 through the end of fall semester 2021.

By the 2021-22 school year, most of us were finally back in the classroom when yet another COVID variant, known as Omicron, was proving once again that this virus would just keep throwing us curveballs.

Meanwhile, we each found our own ways to live our best lives with so much out of our control.

Hi, my name is Hannah Hodges and I am a sixth grader at Ernest Bowen de Silva Elementary School.

When I started school this year, I was hoping for a normal life.

I couldn't wait to come back and make new friends.

Back at New York, I could only see kids on a screen instead of face to face.

I thought that kids getting vaccinated should have helped the COVID cases go down, but now because of a new variant, the COVID cases have gone up.

A new problem is that even though some kids are vaccinated, a bunch of kids in my class are still getting marked absent because they are either in close contact or testing positive.

Nothing has changed.

We are still socially distant and wearing masks.

I think that all we can do is hope that everyone gets better so that everything can go back to normal.

We can take extra safety precautions to make sure everyone is still safe at school.

All we can do right now is pray that those who are absent can come back safely.

I am so excited for my last year of high school to be in person, but that also means that I have an entirely different schedule than what I've been doing for the past year and a half.

My normal day usually starts with me completely ignoring all of my alarms until the very last one.

Then I finally get up.

I go through the motions of my routine, skincare, teeth, makeup.

And by then I'm honestly on the cusp of being late for school, so I have to rush.

Thank you.

I got my learner's permit recently, so now my mom lets me drive around Hilo with her.

I'm an amazing driver.

I get to school right at the bell rings, and first period is Broadcast Media.

My second period is my engineering class where I have to seriously be clean.

I have to wipe down my desk and the computer.

Our school has added testing on campus, which makes going to school feel safer and more comfortable.

Sociology is my last class of the day.

Our teachers want to be prepared in case school is forced online again, so most of our work is in Google Classroom.

I go straight home nowadays.

Seeing my friends kind of puts me and my family at risk.

I make sure to wash my body before bed.

I don't know, it just feels like I'm taking whatever germs on me from the day off.

After that, I finally have some free time to watch shows or go on my phone, and I go to sleep.

And that's what tomorrow's gonna be like too.

That's my new normal.

Aloha.

We are students of Kaimuki Middle School on the Island of O‘ahu.

Today we'll be showing you a day in the life.

Come along with us.

From schoolwork to what we do after school and at home, we’ll show you all the secrets, especially since the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, we could hang out closely with friends, participate in group work, and do hands-on projects.

However, after COVID-19 hit, we had to wear masks, isolate ourselves, and do our assignments individually.

Now as the new year has started, we are back in school, and our days tend to look like this.

The environment at school consists of social distancing, sanitizing, and piles of schoolwork.

Life has been hard lately, but hey, the world is not all bad.

Nonetheless, we still manage to have some fun.

Here is what it looks like.

The pandemic has taught us the importance of staying connected with friends and family.

Sometimes it can feel a little lonely.

Other times we're surrounded with overwhelming love and support.

Without these people in our lives, we would probably would not have any mental sanity.

As of January 2022, there was an average of more than 600,000 new COVID cases per day in the US, with roughly 3,600 coming from our home state, according to The New York Times.

This national pandemic has impacted the lives of the entire country, but in what ways has it changed student lives?

Hundreds of students worldwide were forced to adapt to a new way of life.

In spring of 2020, there was a complete shutdown of schools across the nation.

Students switched from the classic in-person learning to a new era of online schooling.

For high school junior Keenan Kawakami on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i, online education hindered his learning.

I'd say the pandemic has like, greatly affected my education, as online school I felt like really didn't cater to me much, personally.

Like doing online school I missed hanging out with my friends at school, I missed doing group activities and just being in class because at home I personally cannot focus at all.

As regulations loosened, students transitioned from online to hybrid learning to fully in-person schooling.

Out with the old hybrid learning, and a regulated school environment became the new normal.

But the pandemic has not only impacted students’ education, but also their extracurriculars like sports and clubs, with new stricter spectator regulations.

Due to the rapidly increasing nationwide COVID case count, sports have taken on a new form.

Sports have definitely changed.

We have to wear masks all the time.

It's like, suffocating when you run, and, um, not really much on the social distancing for like, volleyball and basketball and soccer, but mainly the spectators.

Like, you can't really have fans.

Your parents can't go to cheer you on and it's all live streamed.

For students, the global shutdown and modified schooling have weakened student relationships and interactions.

Social distancing and event regulations have put a dent in bonds with friends, families and peers.

High school freshmen Venti Jao on O‘ahu Hawai‘i talks about how COVID has affected their social life.

So, before the pandemic, I thought it was easier to, with my social life because you go to school every day, and so you had people to talk to.

But then during the pandemic, when everyone is in lockdown, you couldn't see anyone.

So like, you had to talk, either online or like, just call, which was not the same.

So, it was vastly different.

Social interactions have been limited because of regulations and restrictions.

The global pandemic has greatly affected our daily lives.

Life doesn't seem like it's going to be going back to normal anytime soon.

So how has the pandemic changed your life?

What new normal is now a part of your day?

This is Christina Uchibori from Kalāheo High School for HIKI NŌ.

It's been an interesting year.

Now that we're back in school, I've been thinking more and more about what class was like online, what it was like before the pandemic, and how things have changed since then.

One of the first things I noticed when we came back to school was how much taller my classmates look.

Some even look older or are just different than they do on Zoom.

I feel like I'm seeing the real version of themselves.

I wonder why that is.

When I first got back, everyone was pretty quiet and didn't say much.

Mr. Marvel would ask us something, and I was one of the only people to answer.

I think we were all a little nervous and maybe surprised by how things have changed.

It's hard making friends online, so I didn't really have a friend in our class.

Most of my friends are in a different group in another class.

But this past week, we got pool noodles so we can play tag during recess without touching one another.

It's been lots of fun and sure enough, I've started making some new friends.

It's funny how friendships are made.

So, being back in school has its pluses and minuses.

Yes, we can’t play certain games like we used to, like the ones that involve touching one another, but we can think of new ways to play together, like the noodles.

It was nice not to wake up so early to get to school, but nicer not to look at a screen all day and be sitting down for so long.

Now we're standing up and moving around more often doing Zumba and PE and working in the garden.

Being back in school has been, well, different.

But I'm grateful.

I'm grateful to get a chance to come back to Waikiki Elementary School and have one last time with my friends and teachers before I graduate on to middle school and begin the next part of my life.

Things change.

Change is good.

If you hope, let it be.

One of the good things to come out of COVID has been a much greater awareness of youth mental health, and HIKI NŌ students have been a positive force in revealing sensitive stories that help families and society actually see what they're going through.

This is Katelyn Kato, a seventh grader at Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School on O‘ahu.

I am recording this at my home on April 10, 2021.

Even though school has changed or gone online due to covid, the standards my parents set for me haven’t.

Last school year, I set the bar for my grades of having straight A’s, which was completely fine by me.

School was actually manageable, and my parents and I were happy with the results I was showing, but now that school has drastically changed, maintaining these high expectations have become overwhelming and stressful.

My workspace has been merged with my home environment, and it’s hard to switch between the two, making it impossible to focus in class.

Now, every little thing seems to bother me, whether it’s the noise level, the cars passing by outside, or just my mind being unable to adapt to this new environment.

But, when I was in in-person class and in the academic environment that I’m used to, focusing on my work was so much more easier, where all the sights and sounds were academic.

In school and with my grades, I really do try my best, even though my results might say otherwise.

The way teachers are teaching, and the way we are expected to learn have drastically changed from the ways that I’ve been used to for the past eight years.

I want to do well in school, and I’m still trying my best, so please be patient with me.

I’m still a work in progress.

Dear distance learning, I hate you.

Online classes became boring.

I lost my motivation to learn.

The passion I had for learning now disappeared.

Homework now became an assignment to find someone who I could copy off of.

Did you guys finish the homework?

No, I didn't start.

But you didn't stop there.

School events that I’d longed to participate in?

Now canceled.

Homecoming events, prom, marching band.

You took away the activities that made my years in school irreplaceable.

But most importantly, I lost touch with my classmates.

It's only through a screen where I can see them.

Seeing my classmates in person every day made me happy.

You took a lot away from me.

But thank you.

Now that I'm stuck at home, I can do things I couldn't do before with my family.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to enjoy my grandma's Filipino cooking for lunch, finally getting a chance to spend time with my family almost every day.

You allowed me to focus on myself and gave me the time to better my overall well-being.

Getting back in touch with my faith, actually getting a chance to exercise, and giving attention to my self-care.

You even allowed me to enjoy the presence of the outdoors and focus on my mental health.

Most importantly, you taught me a valuable lesson in life, to be grateful, to be understanding that what I have now, many other people are wishing for it.

No matter what's happening, no matter what you take away from me, I know that every moment should be cherished.

So, thank you, distance learning.

Thank you.

Back in the first episode of this series, we started off with a sudden and dramatic illustration of how COVID would change everything.

After students from more than a dozen Hawai‘i schools traveled all the way to Washington DC for the Student television network competition, it was canceled before it began as the whole country went into lockdown.

Two years later, life comes full circle, demonstrating the creativity and collaboration that COVID inspired.

When STN national competition resumed on the mainland in February of 2022, travel was still restricted for Hawaii students.

So, a group of our media teachers found a way to bring STN here to Hawai‘i and link us up remotely to the national convention.

I still remember walking through the door and seeing this ballroom setup.

Uh, real chicken skin moment, um, really felt good that we were able to pull this off for students.

They were quite overwhelmed.

You know, they really felt like celebrities.

Um, they weren't expecting something of this grand scale to be put on for them.

You can just see it on their faces.

Um, you know, not just my students, but, uh, all the other students that were participating.

Uh, they really felt like they were at a, uh, national convention, a national conference.

Being back in person and having the opportunity to be with people and just like, have the magic of STN was really, really special.

So, we got to the ballroom, and there was so many other different schools.

I was really, just surprised to see everyone there, especially because of COVID, I haven't seen that much people in one place for like, years.

It was exciting.

Uh, and it's, it's not something that you, you can understand until you're actually there talking with the students, and just feeling that energy in the room.

[chanting] Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i.

Oh, you made my day.

Thank you very much.

Have a great morning.

[cheering] The, uh, awards ceremony is, you know, is the highlight of the whole trip.

Uh, the excitement, the anticipation just builds.

What's really nice is whether they win or not, uh, they're cheering, you know, for each other.

All the Hawai‘i schools cheer for each other.

[cheering] It didn't matter if it was your school or not, as long as it was a Hawai‘i school, you cheered, and it was really loud in the room that day.

Everybody was screaming, um, and then they announced first place, Kaua‘i High School, and the screaming just, everybody just roared.

And I was astonished.

Um, I was shaking.

I was very, very, very surprised that I won.

Um, everybody was just screaming.

Kaua‘i High School!

The elation of being together, winning awards, and even finding your career path is gratifying, and no longer taken for granted.

The two classes before mine missed many of their milestone events, including traditional commencement.

So, it was tough to find closure from the letdown of their high school experience.

These HIKI NŌ graduates from the class of 2021 unexpectedly found their way forward through the power of public storytelling.

I think it's important that HIKI NŌ gives the students the opportunity to produce self-reflections, because it, it, it allows us to actually take the time to step back and see, to tell our own story.

‘Cause I think broadcast, we're always telling other people's story.

And we don't really tell our own story, and just focus and reflect on our experiences.

So, I think that HIKI NŌ allowed us to do that.

It just helps us put something out there that shows the best us and it gives us a chance to tell our story that many people can relate to, especially nowadays with the distance learning, the pandemic.

I believe that it was just needed at such a vital time in our society so that we can all see the stories, the self-reflections and be like, “Wow, I went through that, too.” With, um, reflecting and filming it and putting it out there, it's another way of expressing.

It's another way of just venting what we're thinking instead of just like keeping it in, like it's gonna go away, I can keep this in.

It's, uh, it's like when you write into a journal and just leave it there.

But this one, it's going out into the world, and in that second half of like, letting other people see it, I think it's therapeutic in a way to have other people see that they're thinking the same thing, that you're not alone in feeling down about this entire crisis at all.

I think the main thing that I take away from the HIKI NŌ experience is that your video, no matter how small it is, always means something, and it can touch people in ways that you never expect.

This video was personal to me.

But at the same time, someone watching it can feel exactly the same and, and relate to it and, and feel the same thing that I'm feeling.

And sometimes having someone that is going through the same thing as you is a lot more helpful than being completely alone.

My big goal in life is really to create something that changes at least one person’s life.

I like Lawson’s goal.

As I experienced a relatively normal senior year and look forward to college, my fellow storytellers and I are proud to share our first draft of history with you.

Thanks to this archive, our voices and perspectives from this historic time will live on and inform future generations, helping to explain this pivotal time that shaped my generation and our collective future.

We hope you've enjoyed our series and that our stories can help you find the silver linings in your own pandemic experience.

And now we want to leave you with one of our most inspiring pandemic stories.

It's a creative collaboration between two middle schools across two islands, and it demonstrates how HIKI NŌ students found new ways to connect despite the isolation of the remote COVID era.

City officials urge everyone to take social distancing seriously.

We here at KHON2… all taking precautions... As you can see, we're taking a little different shot tonight until it subsides.

Lauren and I will remain at least six feet apart throughout this newscast.

We have a lot to cover as the coronavirus pandemic continues to evolve.

Topping us off tonight, Hawai‘i now has 10 cases of COVID-19.

[Dog pants] It started slow.

They told us to wash our hands.

We kept our distance.

Then they told us to stay home, and practice social distancing.

And so we did.

We participated in online school.

Then we woke up and started to think about this: a week turned into two weeks, then into 3, 4, 5, and now being talked about as a new way of life.

We watched school gates close indefinitely... [door lock] [slow piano music continues] Clinging on to any hope that we will soon get to embrace the people we love so far away from us.

People losing their jobs and the number of virus casualties escalating.

The pandemic has interrupted the schedules of millions of kids like me, like us, with questions we have that need to be answered.

When will all this be over?

Will it last forever?

Does it have to be our darkest hour?

We started to assume the worst.

But we stood together.

[upbeat music] The expectation for this year is magical, but things fell out of order and it's up to us to see the light, by remembering the love that can travel any distance to find you.

We are apart, but this is a chance to be closer than ever.

[laughter] Because when it comes time for us to go out, by the help of our teachers, friends and family – What do you need help on?

Personal stuff.

Hey guys, how are you guys doing?

We will adapt.

We will overcome, and hope will be written in stone.

All we need to do is figure out what kind of shot we want?

I'm thinking maybe a wide so they can get a wide so they can get a wide, but overall, that seems good.

Okay, I'll get started on that project right away.

Bye.

[orchestral music continues] [chime] We opened our eyes to see that we should never take what we have for granted.

All right, welcome, everybody.

So nice to see everybody back again together with, with each other and, uh, we are nearing the homestretch.

Happy birthday.

Now we know even though it seems like we are alone, we are in this together.

[outro music]