I recently graduated from a university in China. I had spent about five years away from home and fortunately, when the announcement to close the universities and schools was made, I had already written my exam and didn’t have to wait some months to write the exams, therefore I was already at home when that announcement was made.

I have had many personal negative impacts from COVID-19 such as failure to find work and I have not been able to support myself in terms of finding my own house. To add to the pain, I was really hurt to hear the news from my father that he was laid off from work. I have really had many negative impacts from COVID-19 however, with this story I want to focus the remaining part of my story on the major positive impacts of my life during this time.

When I was growing up I didn’t really spend much time with my parents. Worse yet, I went from a boarding school in my primary and secondary education to studying abroad at the university. I am an only child, therefore, I didn’t have any brothers and sisters to fight or argue with and I usually felt lonely. True, my parents cared for me, bought me all the toys that I wanted but at the same time, I felt that I didn’t really know them that much.

However, things changed for the better during the COVID-19 period. My bond with my parents became stronger than before. During the six months I spent at home, I learned a lot about my parents: How they met, the place they went to on their first date and we looked at some of the pictures they took back then. When my family and I tried out the tik tok challenges I was surprised to see that my father is a better dancer than me. I deeply appreciate the friendship I have with my parents right now. I always thought of my parents as busy and serious people but actually, they are more fun to be with than most of my friends. I am free to talk to them about anything and they will listen to me and help me out.

And another thing; we were able to rekindle our worship together and that has also had a great impact on our friendship and open communication. I had other amazing moments during these times; I was able to befriend a childhood friend with whom I had a fight before I went abroad. I am just thankful for all these amazing moments I have right now. Thank you.