The pandemic affected everyone. It forced us to adapt to a difficult situation with no end in sight. However, the ones severely affected are those people who lost their jobs with a family that has to eat; people who live day by day without an ounce of money saved in their pockets; people who was forced to act as if the chaos that is happening is not affecting them mentally.

I am unfortunately, one of the people who have been affected by the pandemic. I remember during the first time it was announced, we were worried about how long it will take because once the work stops, there is no money coming in. We learned how to budget our money then. I remembered being glad that there has been an academic break there for a few months which gave us the breathing room we needed.

As the pandemic continues, people adjust accordingly and fortunately, my parents was able to get back to work but their salaries are halved. Still this is a much better situation than before. I remember using a lot of earning apps I found on Youtube just to have some spare money for my data for our online classes. I did almost everything I could get my hands on from reading articles, writing articles, and playing games. It was hard and the earnings are not really worth the time that I dedicated to it so I stopped.

I focused on studying well so that I will not lose my scholarship which has been a great help during this trying time. For awhile, I was contented with it until I heard my parents whispering about financial problems. I have also sometimes pretended we don't have any class so they will not feel the need to spend money for load when we could just use it to buy food.

This event led to the realization that I would need some sort way to help them. So, I searched again for business ideas and I kept coming back to the customized stickers shop. I knew I would not be able to complete it on my own when I am already having a hard time so I enlisted my friends to help.

It took us months before we were able to launch it but we never gave up. During the process, I have learned many things about myself and I started to believe more in what I can do. I also discovered noise.cash around this time which has helped me in voicing out my thoughts confidently. Finding read.cash is what pushed me to believe more.

Last year around this time, I was worried about the future. I was wondering how we will survive the lockdown. This time around, I have launched a business with my friends, I have some investments, savings, and I am also holding BCH. I have also managed to make donations to different organizations, and also to the community pantries. The time when I almost could have given up is a turning point that led to this. I never stopped believing so I am here feeling hopeful for the future.