Youth of the pandemic revisited: Hopeful, resilient, nervous
Freddie Golden, 17, poses for a portrait outside Breakthrough FamilyPlex, the Chicago gym where he plays basketball and works out on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. He says being able to return to the gym has helped lift his spirits. This is “my home away from home,” he said. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, reaches for a folder from his friend and classmate Amari Crockett at the Collins campus of North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Golden says he has enjoyed being back in the classroom, even if there are fewer students and not as much interaction. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, works on a biology study guide at the Collins campus of North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Golden said online school was harder because he had trouble staying focused and motivated, but he said he still managed to keep his grades up. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, foreground, takes a shot at the Breakthrough Familyplex, the Chicago gym where he plays basketball and works out, on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Staff at the facility started offering limited classes and open gym sessions earlier this year — and have been slowly ramping up as Chicago’s Covid numbers drop. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
In this photo provided by his mother, Freddie Golden, right, stands with his family after his eldest sister’s college graduation on Saturday, June 5, 2021, in Providence, R.I. Freddie was grateful to get to travel to the event, though — once there — they still had to watch the ceremony on a screen away from the venue. (Wilonda Cannon via AP)
FILE - In this Thursday, May 14, 2020 file photo, Elena Moretti looks at her cellphone as she prepares to attend an online dancing lesson, in her bedroom in Rome, Thursday, May 14, 2020. For the 11-year-old, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is not some faraway threat: Italy was the first European country to be hit by COVID-19, and her mother is a doctor in the public health system that has seen 25,000 personnel infected and more than 160 doctors dead nationwide. “The doctors are saving a bunch of people,” Elena said. “They’ve been very brave in confronting this.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, leaves her house heading to school in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Moretti says. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, center, poses for a portrait with her parents, Massimo Moretti, left, and Letizia Perracchio at their house in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Last year, she was dancing alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, right, has her breakfast with her parents, Massimo Moretti and Letizia Perracchio, at their house in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Last year, she was dancing alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, center, walks with her friends to school in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Moretti says. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
FILE - In this Sunday, April 19, 2020 photo provided by Anil Sanweria, his sons, Uddhav Pratap, 8, left, and Advait Vallabh, 9, help in the kitchen during a nationwide COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown. The brothers believe the lockdown should continue for a year. “They shouldn’t reopen till the time there are zero cases left,” the younger Uddhav Pratap says. (Anil Sanweria via AP, File)
This 2021 photo provided by Aparna Vaidik shows her sons, Advait Vallabh Sanweria 10, foreground, and Uddhav Pratap Sanweria 9, on the terrace of their apartment in New Delhi. The boys talk about their hope for free vaccines, even if they are too young to get them themselves. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since announced a plan to distribute free shots, in a bid to fully vaccinate the country by end of the year. (Aparna Vaidik via AP)
This 2021 photo provided by Aparna Vaidik shows her son, Uddhav Pratap Sanweria 9, on the terrace of their apartment in New Delhi. With COVID-19 continuing to spread, Uddhav still fears for the family, particularly his grandparents, who’ve managed to stay well so far. (Aparna Vaidik via AP)
This March 2020 photo provided by Michaela Seah shows her in Palo Alto, Calif. In March 2020, Michaela was isolating in her bedroom. Sick with a fever, she stayed there for two weeks as a precaution to protect her family. It felt lonely, she said. But no one else got sick. (Michaela Seah via AP)
In this photo provided by the family, Michaela Seah, 18, second from left, stands with her family after her high school graduation in Palo Alto, Calif., on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Early on in the pandemic, Michaela had to quarantine in her room for two weeks because she had a fever and other symptoms. Early next year, she’ll head to Paris for a semester abroad as a student at NYU. “It seems like a big jump because you come from like going to your home and not leaving your room to going to another country. So I’m a little scared,” she says. (Courtesy Michaela Seah via AP)
In this photo provided by Michaela Seah, 18, second from left, she stands with friends at her parent-organized prom in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday, June 4, 2021. Now fully vaccinated, it was one of the first times she and friends gathered without masks. Admittedly, she said, it felt a little “awkward.” (Courtesy Michaela Seah via AP)
FILE - In this May 7, 2020 photo provided by Aaron Watson, his son, Owen, 12, stands for a portrait in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut territory in far north Canada. Though at the time there were no known cases of coronavirus in his town, Owen’s school closed as a precaution. He thought it’s only a matter of time before the virus arrives there. Iqaluit has a population of about 7,000 people, many of whom are Inuit. (Aaron Watson via AP, File)
In this photo provided by Aaron Watson, right, he takes a selfie photo with his son, Owen Watson, 13, second from right, and their family at a vaccine center in Iqaluit, a city in the far-north Canadian territory of Nunavut, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The first COVID-19 cases were documented in the territory in the spring of 2021. “It got pretty scary,” Owen says. Health officials there worried the virus would spread quickly, since Inuit communities can be more vulnerable. (AP Photo via Aaron Watson)
Owen Watson, 13, receives his first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Iqaluit, a city in the far-north Canadian territory of Nunavut, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Owen said he was relieved to be able to get the vaccine. There had been no documented cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut until this spring. “It got pretty scary,” he says. (AP Photo via Aaron Watson)
Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis sits on a rooftop terrace in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, May 2, 2021. Niki, 12, has counted on time outdoors to help get her through the pandemic. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
FILE - In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, 11, sits on the roots of a gum tree in Port Melbourne, Australia, on April 30, 2020. While she was sad about all the people lost to the virus pandemic, Niki is hopeful that the shutdowns are teaching the world how to live in ways that will help the environment. (Anna Berghamre via AP, File)
In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, 12, works on a computer with her dog, Bailey, at her side on Thursday, June 10, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. Niki has missed her friends at school during pandemic lockdowns but says she’s also learned to work more independently. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis sits with her brothers, Hugo and Axel, in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, May 23, 2021. Niki, 12, has counted on her brothers for company during pandemic lockdowns. She is hoping they can travel to see relatives in Sweden some day soon. “I would be really happy to spend time away,” she says. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
Tresor Ndizihiwe plays soccer with his friends after school at the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Tresor says he enjoys playing with others after months at home when he was not allowed to play with his friends or classmates because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
FILE - In this Tuesday, April 21, 2020 file photo, Tresor Ndizihiwe, 12, center, helps wash clothes with his mother, Jacqueline Mukantwari, left, and brothers at their house in Kigali, Rwanda. Mukantwari is paid $50 a month as a schoolteacher, but used to earn extra money giving private lessons. That business has dried up amid the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown, and the family had gotten food parcels from the government twice a month. (AP Photo/File)
Tresor Ndizihiwe plays with his friends after school at the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Returning to school was not so easy. First, he learned how much worse COVID had been and how his mother had tried to protect him from the realities. He’d also fallen behind on his studies because he had no computer or TV to access classes during lockdown. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Tresor Ndizihiwe walks home from the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Tresor says he walks for 30 minutes from the school back to his home, sometimes with his younger brother, sometimes with his mother, because the family cannot afford a taxi. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Manuela Salomao, 16, looks at her phone as she poses for a portrait in the lobby of her residential building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, June 10, 2021. In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, she expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines. “The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive.” (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Manuela Salomao, 16, holds her phone as she poses for a portrait in the lobby of her residential building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, June 10, 2021. In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, she expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines. “The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive.” (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Freddie Golden, 17, poses for a portrait outside Breakthrough FamilyPlex, the Chicago gym where he plays basketball and works out on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. He says being able to return to the gym has helped lift his spirits. This is “my home away from home,” he said. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, poses for a portrait outside Breakthrough FamilyPlex, the Chicago gym where he plays basketball and works out on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. He says being able to return to the gym has helped lift his spirits. This is “my home away from home,” he said. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, reaches for a folder from his friend and classmate Amari Crockett at the Collins campus of North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Golden says he has enjoyed being back in the classroom, even if there are fewer students and not as much interaction. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, reaches for a folder from his friend and classmate Amari Crockett at the Collins campus of North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Golden says he has enjoyed being back in the classroom, even if there are fewer students and not as much interaction. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, works on a biology study guide at the Collins campus of North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Golden said online school was harder because he had trouble staying focused and motivated, but he said he still managed to keep his grades up. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, 17, works on a biology study guide at the Collins campus of North Lawndale College Prep High School in Chicago on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Golden said online school was harder because he had trouble staying focused and motivated, but he said he still managed to keep his grades up. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, foreground, takes a shot at the Breakthrough Familyplex, the Chicago gym where he plays basketball and works out, on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Staff at the facility started offering limited classes and open gym sessions earlier this year — and have been slowly ramping up as Chicago’s Covid numbers drop. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
Freddie Golden, foreground, takes a shot at the Breakthrough Familyplex, the Chicago gym where he plays basketball and works out, on Tuesday, June 8, 2021. Staff at the facility started offering limited classes and open gym sessions earlier this year — and have been slowly ramping up as Chicago’s Covid numbers drop. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
In this photo provided by his mother, Freddie Golden, right, stands with his family after his eldest sister’s college graduation on Saturday, June 5, 2021, in Providence, R.I. Freddie was grateful to get to travel to the event, though — once there — they still had to watch the ceremony on a screen away from the venue. (Wilonda Cannon via AP)
In this photo provided by his mother, Freddie Golden, right, stands with his family after his eldest sister’s college graduation on Saturday, June 5, 2021, in Providence, R.I. Freddie was grateful to get to travel to the event, though — once there — they still had to watch the ceremony on a screen away from the venue. (Wilonda Cannon via AP)
FILE - In this Thursday, May 14, 2020 file photo, Elena Moretti looks at her cellphone as she prepares to attend an online dancing lesson, in her bedroom in Rome, Thursday, May 14, 2020. For the 11-year-old, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is not some faraway threat: Italy was the first European country to be hit by COVID-19, and her mother is a doctor in the public health system that has seen 25,000 personnel infected and more than 160 doctors dead nationwide. “The doctors are saving a bunch of people,” Elena said. “They’ve been very brave in confronting this.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
FILE - In this Thursday, May 14, 2020 file photo, Elena Moretti looks at her cellphone as she prepares to attend an online dancing lesson, in her bedroom in Rome, Thursday, May 14, 2020. For the 11-year-old, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is not some faraway threat: Italy was the first European country to be hit by COVID-19, and her mother is a doctor in the public health system that has seen 25,000 personnel infected and more than 160 doctors dead nationwide. “The doctors are saving a bunch of people,” Elena said. “They’ve been very brave in confronting this.” (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, leaves her house heading to school in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Moretti says. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, leaves her house heading to school in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Moretti says. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, center, poses for a portrait with her parents, Massimo Moretti, left, and Letizia Perracchio at their house in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Last year, she was dancing alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, center, poses for a portrait with her parents, Massimo Moretti, left, and Letizia Perracchio at their house in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Last year, she was dancing alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, right, has her breakfast with her parents, Massimo Moretti and Letizia Perracchio, at their house in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Last year, she was dancing alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, right, has her breakfast with her parents, Massimo Moretti and Letizia Perracchio, at their house in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Last year, she was dancing alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, center, walks with her friends to school in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Moretti says. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Elena Maria Moretti, 12, center, walks with her friends to school in Rome, Thursday, June 3, 2021. The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Moretti says. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
FILE - In this Sunday, April 19, 2020 photo provided by Anil Sanweria, his sons, Uddhav Pratap, 8, left, and Advait Vallabh, 9, help in the kitchen during a nationwide COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown. The brothers believe the lockdown should continue for a year. “They shouldn’t reopen till the time there are zero cases left,” the younger Uddhav Pratap says. (Anil Sanweria via AP, File)
FILE - In this Sunday, April 19, 2020 photo provided by Anil Sanweria, his sons, Uddhav Pratap, 8, left, and Advait Vallabh, 9, help in the kitchen during a nationwide COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown. The brothers believe the lockdown should continue for a year. “They shouldn’t reopen till the time there are zero cases left,” the younger Uddhav Pratap says. (Anil Sanweria via AP, File)
This 2021 photo provided by Aparna Vaidik shows her sons, Advait Vallabh Sanweria 10, foreground, and Uddhav Pratap Sanweria 9, on the terrace of their apartment in New Delhi. The boys talk about their hope for free vaccines, even if they are too young to get them themselves. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since announced a plan to distribute free shots, in a bid to fully vaccinate the country by end of the year. (Aparna Vaidik via AP)
This 2021 photo provided by Aparna Vaidik shows her sons, Advait Vallabh Sanweria 10, foreground, and Uddhav Pratap Sanweria 9, on the terrace of their apartment in New Delhi. The boys talk about their hope for free vaccines, even if they are too young to get them themselves. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since announced a plan to distribute free shots, in a bid to fully vaccinate the country by end of the year. (Aparna Vaidik via AP)
This 2021 photo provided by Aparna Vaidik shows her son, Uddhav Pratap Sanweria 9, on the terrace of their apartment in New Delhi. With COVID-19 continuing to spread, Uddhav still fears for the family, particularly his grandparents, who’ve managed to stay well so far. (Aparna Vaidik via AP)
This 2021 photo provided by Aparna Vaidik shows her son, Uddhav Pratap Sanweria 9, on the terrace of their apartment in New Delhi. With COVID-19 continuing to spread, Uddhav still fears for the family, particularly his grandparents, who’ve managed to stay well so far. (Aparna Vaidik via AP)
This March 2020 photo provided by Michaela Seah shows her in Palo Alto, Calif. In March 2020, Michaela was isolating in her bedroom. Sick with a fever, she stayed there for two weeks as a precaution to protect her family. It felt lonely, she said. But no one else got sick. (Michaela Seah via AP)
This March 2020 photo provided by Michaela Seah shows her in Palo Alto, Calif. In March 2020, Michaela was isolating in her bedroom. Sick with a fever, she stayed there for two weeks as a precaution to protect her family. It felt lonely, she said. But no one else got sick. (Michaela Seah via AP)
In this photo provided by the family, Michaela Seah, 18, second from left, stands with her family after her high school graduation in Palo Alto, Calif., on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Early on in the pandemic, Michaela had to quarantine in her room for two weeks because she had a fever and other symptoms. Early next year, she’ll head to Paris for a semester abroad as a student at NYU. “It seems like a big jump because you come from like going to your home and not leaving your room to going to another country. So I’m a little scared,” she says. (Courtesy Michaela Seah via AP)
In this photo provided by the family, Michaela Seah, 18, second from left, stands with her family after her high school graduation in Palo Alto, Calif., on Wednesday, June 2, 2021. Early on in the pandemic, Michaela had to quarantine in her room for two weeks because she had a fever and other symptoms. Early next year, she’ll head to Paris for a semester abroad as a student at NYU. “It seems like a big jump because you come from like going to your home and not leaving your room to going to another country. So I’m a little scared,” she says. (Courtesy Michaela Seah via AP)
In this photo provided by Michaela Seah, 18, second from left, she stands with friends at her parent-organized prom in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday, June 4, 2021. Now fully vaccinated, it was one of the first times she and friends gathered without masks. Admittedly, she said, it felt a little “awkward.” (Courtesy Michaela Seah via AP)
In this photo provided by Michaela Seah, 18, second from left, she stands with friends at her parent-organized prom in Palo Alto, Calif., on Friday, June 4, 2021. Now fully vaccinated, it was one of the first times she and friends gathered without masks. Admittedly, she said, it felt a little “awkward.” (Courtesy Michaela Seah via AP)
FILE - In this May 7, 2020 photo provided by Aaron Watson, his son, Owen, 12, stands for a portrait in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut territory in far north Canada. Though at the time there were no known cases of coronavirus in his town, Owen’s school closed as a precaution. He thought it’s only a matter of time before the virus arrives there. Iqaluit has a population of about 7,000 people, many of whom are Inuit. (Aaron Watson via AP, File)
FILE - In this May 7, 2020 photo provided by Aaron Watson, his son, Owen, 12, stands for a portrait in Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut territory in far north Canada. Though at the time there were no known cases of coronavirus in his town, Owen’s school closed as a precaution. He thought it’s only a matter of time before the virus arrives there. Iqaluit has a population of about 7,000 people, many of whom are Inuit. (Aaron Watson via AP, File)
In this photo provided by Aaron Watson, right, he takes a selfie photo with his son, Owen Watson, 13, second from right, and their family at a vaccine center in Iqaluit, a city in the far-north Canadian territory of Nunavut, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The first COVID-19 cases were documented in the territory in the spring of 2021. “It got pretty scary,” Owen says. Health officials there worried the virus would spread quickly, since Inuit communities can be more vulnerable. (AP Photo via Aaron Watson)
In this photo provided by Aaron Watson, right, he takes a selfie photo with his son, Owen Watson, 13, second from right, and their family at a vaccine center in Iqaluit, a city in the far-north Canadian territory of Nunavut, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. The first COVID-19 cases were documented in the territory in the spring of 2021. “It got pretty scary,” Owen says. Health officials there worried the virus would spread quickly, since Inuit communities can be more vulnerable. (AP Photo via Aaron Watson)
Owen Watson, 13, receives his first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Iqaluit, a city in the far-north Canadian territory of Nunavut, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Owen said he was relieved to be able to get the vaccine. There had been no documented cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut until this spring. “It got pretty scary,” he says. (AP Photo via Aaron Watson)
Owen Watson, 13, receives his first Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in Iqaluit, a city in the far-north Canadian territory of Nunavut, on Wednesday, June 16, 2021. Owen said he was relieved to be able to get the vaccine. There had been no documented cases of COVID-19 in Nunavut until this spring. “It got pretty scary,” he says. (AP Photo via Aaron Watson)
Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis sits on a rooftop terrace in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, May 2, 2021. Niki, 12, has counted on time outdoors to help get her through the pandemic. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
FILE - In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, 11, sits on the roots of a gum tree in Port Melbourne, Australia, on April 30, 2020. While she was sad about all the people lost to the virus pandemic, Niki is hopeful that the shutdowns are teaching the world how to live in ways that will help the environment. (Anna Berghamre via AP, File)
FILE - In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, 11, sits on the roots of a gum tree in Port Melbourne, Australia, on April 30, 2020. While she was sad about all the people lost to the virus pandemic, Niki is hopeful that the shutdowns are teaching the world how to live in ways that will help the environment. (Anna Berghamre via AP, File)
In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, 12, works on a computer with her dog, Bailey, at her side on Thursday, June 10, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. Niki has missed her friends at school during pandemic lockdowns but says she’s also learned to work more independently. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, 12, works on a computer with her dog, Bailey, at her side on Thursday, June 10, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. Niki has missed her friends at school during pandemic lockdowns but says she’s also learned to work more independently. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis sits with her brothers, Hugo and Axel, in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, May 23, 2021. Niki, 12, has counted on her brothers for company during pandemic lockdowns. She is hoping they can travel to see relatives in Sweden some day soon. “I would be really happy to spend time away,” she says. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
In this photo provided by her family, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis sits with her brothers, Hugo and Axel, in Melbourne, Australia, on Sunday, May 23, 2021. Niki, 12, has counted on her brothers for company during pandemic lockdowns. She is hoping they can travel to see relatives in Sweden some day soon. “I would be really happy to spend time away,” she says. (Anna Berghamre via AP)
Tresor Ndizihiwe plays soccer with his friends after school at the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Tresor says he enjoys playing with others after months at home when he was not allowed to play with his friends or classmates because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Tresor Ndizihiwe plays soccer with his friends after school at the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Tresor says he enjoys playing with others after months at home when he was not allowed to play with his friends or classmates because of the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
FILE - In this Tuesday, April 21, 2020 file photo, Tresor Ndizihiwe, 12, center, helps wash clothes with his mother, Jacqueline Mukantwari, left, and brothers at their house in Kigali, Rwanda. Mukantwari is paid $50 a month as a schoolteacher, but used to earn extra money giving private lessons. That business has dried up amid the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown, and the family had gotten food parcels from the government twice a month. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Tuesday, April 21, 2020 file photo, Tresor Ndizihiwe, 12, center, helps wash clothes with his mother, Jacqueline Mukantwari, left, and brothers at their house in Kigali, Rwanda. Mukantwari is paid $50 a month as a schoolteacher, but used to earn extra money giving private lessons. That business has dried up amid the COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown, and the family had gotten food parcels from the government twice a month. (AP Photo/File)
Tresor Ndizihiwe plays with his friends after school at the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Returning to school was not so easy. First, he learned how much worse COVID had been and how his mother had tried to protect him from the realities. He’d also fallen behind on his studies because he had no computer or TV to access classes during lockdown. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Tresor Ndizihiwe plays with his friends after school at the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Returning to school was not so easy. First, he learned how much worse COVID had been and how his mother had tried to protect him from the realities. He’d also fallen behind on his studies because he had no computer or TV to access classes during lockdown. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Tresor Ndizihiwe walks home from the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Tresor says he walks for 30 minutes from the school back to his home, sometimes with his younger brother, sometimes with his mother, because the family cannot afford a taxi. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Tresor Ndizihiwe walks home from the Kimihurura Primary School in Kigali, Rwanda, on Thursday, June 10, 2021. Tresor says he walks for 30 minutes from the school back to his home, sometimes with his younger brother, sometimes with his mother, because the family cannot afford a taxi. (AP Photo/Muhizi Olivier)
Manuela Salomao, 16, looks at her phone as she poses for a portrait in the lobby of her residential building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, June 10, 2021. In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, she expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines. “The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive.” (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Manuela Salomao, 16, looks at her phone as she poses for a portrait in the lobby of her residential building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, June 10, 2021. In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, she expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines. “The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive.” (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Manuela Salomao, 16, holds her phone as she poses for a portrait in the lobby of her residential building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, June 10, 2021. In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, she expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines. “The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive.” (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
Manuela Salomao, 16, holds her phone as she poses for a portrait in the lobby of her residential building in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Thursday, June 10, 2021. In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, she expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines. “The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive.” (AP Photo/Andre Penner)
A young woman in California, newly vaccinated, flashes a smile and a peace sign as she poses for a prom photo with her pals. She feels strange but elated without her mask.
In Australia, a girl still clings to the fluffy border collie that her family got to comfort them in the depths of lockdown last year. Just recently, she had to shelter at home again because of a COVID-19 outbreak near her.
A boy in remote northern Canada, now a young teen, feels relief when he lifts his T-shirt sleeve for the first of two vaccine shots.
A baby-faced teen in Rwanda who wanted to be a soldier has changed his mind. The pandemic, he says, has showed him a different way to help the world.
They are among a group of young people who first spoke with The Associated Press last year, just as the pandemic started to grip the world. The AP recently checked in with them again to see how they’re doing – and how the global crisis has molded them.
They’ve missed their friends, desperately. They’ve struggled at times to stay motivated and to focus on school done in various ways from home, if access to their studies was even available. Most are still awaiting their chance to get vaccinated, but want to do so.
They are anxious and happy and frustrated and hopeful, seemingly all at once. But they say the pandemic also has given them newfound resilience and an appreciation for even little things.
“I’m realizing that … if there’s an opportunity for memory making, you have to like go for it because there could be a chance that that opportunity will disappear,” said Michaela Seah, the young woman in California.
In March 2020, Michaela was isolating in her bedroom in Palo Alto, just south of San Francisco. Sick with a fever, she stayed there for two weeks as a precaution to protect her family. It felt lonely, she said. But no one else got sick.
Little more than a year later, she walked across the stage at Palo Alto High School to receive her diploma. In early 2022, she will begin her freshman year at NYU with a semester in Paris.
“It’s a big jump,” the 18-year-old said. She’s nervous, but also excited to begin this new chapter.
The joy of rejoining the world -- and especially reuniting with friends and extended family -- has been a universal theme for the young participants who’ve been able to do so. “Being with them, hugging them,” Elena Maria Moretti, a 12-year-old in Rome, said. Last year, she was dancing hip hop alone in her bedroom and spraying disinfectant on packages the family received. Italy was among the first to experience huge death counts because of COVID-19.
Now wearing masks, she and her friends have been able to walk to school together and to study and visit in one another’s homes. Being separated from them – stuck in her family’s apartment for so long -- was “ugly,” she said.
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Not everyone is feeling so free. While cases and deaths are dropping in some parts of the world, the pandemic continues to rage in others, especially those with bigger populations and with less access to vaccines.
In New Delhi, India, young brothers Advait and Uddhav Sanweria have sheltered at home for months. This year alone, a second wave of COVID left more than 230,000 Indians dead in a four-month period.
“We thought that the entire human population will be finished,” 10-year-old Advait said in a video interview recently filmed for the AP by the boys’ parents. “And Earth will remain nothing but an empty sphere with dead bodies.”
Uddhav, 9, still fears for their family, particularly his grandparents, who’ve managed to stay well so far.
The boys, a jovial pair who wrestle together and play cricket in their living room, talked about their hope for free vaccines, even if they are too young to get them themselves. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has since announced a plan to distribute free shots, in a bid to fully vaccinate the country by end of the year.
In Brazil, where COVID cases are still surging, 16-year-old Manuela Salomão, expressed frustration with her country’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, whose government repeatedly ignored opportunities to buy vaccines.
“The pandemic was not easy for a lot of people in Brazil. Many lost their jobs and could not socially distance because they needed to survive,” said Manuela, who lives in Sao Paolo.
“To die of hunger or of COVID? That’s still very hard.”
The pandemic has caused her to grow up more quickly, she said – to become more empathetic, to think more critically and to study even harder.
In Melbourne, Australia, Niki Jolene Berghamre-Davis, who’s 12, just finished two weeks in lockdown. She’s relied on her family and their new dog, Bailey, to keep her company and learned to play the clarinet. She says online school helped her become more independent.
Niki tries not to be annoyed by the shutdowns and Australia’s restrictions on international travel. She’s knows other countries have had it much worse – and is grateful that Australia has made it through the pandemic relatively unscathed.
“I would be really happy to spend time away,” she said, wistfully. Sweden, where her family has relatives, would be her first destination. She misses them terribly.
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In some ways, life as he knew it has returned for Tresor Ndizihiwe, a 13-year-old in Kigali, Rwanda. He can play soccer with his friends again. He can now help his mother carry home food from the local markets -- plantains, sweet potatoes and other staples.
But returning to school was not so easy. First, he learned how much worse COVID had been and how his mother had tried to protect him from the realities. He’d also fallen behind on his studies because he had no computer or TV to access classes during lockdown.
Tresor is determined to catch up, and also spends time helping his younger siblings practice reading. When the AP first spoke to him in April 2020, he said he wanted to be a soldier.
Now the boy, a top student in his class before the pandemic, plans to be a doctor, “so if another pandemic arises, I can help.”
He is glad that his mother, a teacher, got vaccinated. He will patiently wait for his own.
In Nunavut, a territory in far-north Canada, Owen Watson, another 13-year-old, had hoped the remoteness of his homeland would help keep everyone there safe.
Last year, he recorded a video for the AP, wearing a parka and NASA cap as he showed his closed school and playground, still with a bit of snow in late spring. For months, partly due to the occasional lockdowns and strict travel bans, the small capital city where he lives, Iqaluit, had no documented cases of Covid. That changed this April.
“It got pretty scary,” Owen said. Health officials there worried the virus would spread quickly, since Inuit communities can be more vulnerable.
Owen breathed easier when his parents got vaccinated. Then this month, still wearing the NASA cap, he got the first of two Pfizer shots, newly approved for his age group in some countries.
“I’m feeling a bit more calm now,” he said. But there’s always that underlying fear that it won’t stay that way.
That, too, was a common sentiment among the young people who spoke with the AP.
It’s not just the fear of another pandemic. For Freddie Golden, a 17-year-old in Chicago, the state of the world is overwhelming in many ways. As young Black man, for instance, he watched last year’s news about the police killings of George Floyd and others with a heavy heart.
“I want to live life in a good way, not where bad things are continuously thrown at me,” said Freddie, who’ll begin his senior year at North Lawndale College Preparatory High School on Chicago’s West side in a few weeks.
His mom, Wilonda Cannon, watched as her son struggled emotionally last year – but also as he grew into a man, with broad, muscular shoulders and deepened voice. It was a reminder, she said, that even when life came to a halt in many ways, time marched on.
“My family, especially my mom, helped pull me through,” said Freddie, who now feels more ready to take on the world.
His big goal is to become an engineer – “to change the world with technology” -- and to play basketball in college. He has his sights set on Howard University in Washington.
“I feel like for kids my age … all across the world, it’s been a tough, stressful situation,” Freddie said. “But I feel like we all can push through. We all can do it. We just got to stay the course.
“I feel like we deserve happiness.”
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Contributors to this report included Terry Chea in San Francisco; Rishabh Jain and Rishi Lekhi in New Delhi; Mauricio Savarese in Rio de Janeiro; and Fanuel Morelli in Rome. Online presentation by Dario Lopez. Martha Irvine, an AP national writer and visual journalist, can be reached at [email protected] or at @irvineAP