During the epidemic prevention and control period, the study place changed from the familiar classrooms to online meeting rooms. With the joint efforts of teachers and students, SHSIDers quickly adjusted their study life and mental state, ensuring their physical and mental health as well as learning effects during lockdown. During this special period, a group of SHSID students not only actively adapted to the changes but also showed a high sense of social responsibility. They gave full play to their strengths and flexibly used various online tools and platforms to contribute to epidemic prevention and control work in addition to social welfare work. In the process of dedication, they obtained unique experience, leaving vivid footnotes for their own growth.

In the recently published article from the official account Today Minhang, students from SHSID found a familiar figure. It turned out that Matthew Wang, a student from Grade 10, volunteered to work as an interpreter for the community public account during the epidemic, which remarkably brought convenience to the foreign residents of the community and received him many thanks.

During the recent epidemic, Matthew wanted to contribute to the community's epidemic prevention, but due to age restrictions, many jobs could not be undertaken. By chance, he found an article recruiting English translators on the official account of his community. As there are many foreigners living in his community, the articles issued by the official account also need to have an English part. So, through the article, he contacted the person in charge of the account and began his job as a translator. With more and more translation being completed, Matthew also had more in-depth thoughts on "volunteer" work.

Matthew Wang

"Although the translation was not difficult and required much time and effort, it was a necessary job. Especially for foreigners who have been impacted by the Shanghai epidemic but are not good at Chinese, it is necessary to have a platform to help them understand the real-time situation. I also thought that maybe I could help some other groups that do not know the Chinese language to do some small things, such as helping them organize group buying or helping them to convey their appeals to the community. Volunteering and participating in the Shanghai epidemic prevention doesn't mean having to become a Da Bai. There are many other ways to help our communities. Each of us can start with small things to make a difference in the often-overlooked details of the pandemic."

Grade 10 students Don Zhao and Joey Li as well as Grade 9 students Tess Wang and Frank Wang took part in the antigen and nucleic acid testing volunteer work; they also volunteered to help with caring for the elderly within their communities during their spare time. They have personally experienced the heavy sweat behind the word "volunteer" through their work.

Don Zhao

“The citizens of Shanghai are all fighting together against the tough obstacles during this period of time. I, as a SHSID student, also want to help！I was asked to wear full protection with only my eyes outside of the uniform; the full PPE gear makes the whole work process much harder. Despite the hardship, I helped elderly people do the tests, I felt a sense of responsibility that I had never experienced before, and I made myself feel mature, no longer a kid anymore. Over the course of almost three years of COVID-19, I have heard many comments about how hard and tired the doctors, nurses, volunteers, and all other heroes fighting on the front line are, but I had never experienced it until now. It is until now that I finally realize and understand how hard these people work day in and day out.”

Nancy Zhang and Sofia Li from Grade 12 took on the heavy responsibility of group purchase captains in the community, actively matching supply-and-demand resources and tackling various registration tools. In the process, they not only gained the trust and praise of their neighbors, but also enhanced their organization ability in the practice.

Nancy Zhang

“I have benefited remarkably from my work experience in my neighborhood committee business. From being familiar with Excel operations to being efficient with material distribution, adjustment of volunteers, and social connections, I became a veteran of group purchase events and an adept captain of group purchases. This experience has also let me recognize the beauty of humanity and the harmonious relationship between neighbors. I believe that most of us are familiar with sayings such as "Every coin has two sides" and "Win a few, lose a few." I know that Shanghai's lockdown situation has dissatisfied our yearning for freedom and fresh city air, resulting in passive ideas. But in my opinion, although we have the right to complain, instead of drowning ourselves in negative emotions, it is better to seize this uncommon opportunity to discover the beauty around us, feel the spring in Shanghai, say ‘hi’ to fellow neighbors, and concentrate on perceiving the magnitude of our "silent" city. By doing so, perhaps we can reap surprising gifts from this unique life.”

In addition to the on-site work of epidemic prevention, the ASB and various student clubs have also actively organized a series of online activities, including providing the public with support in scientific epidemic prevention and psychological healing in a lively form, holding lectures to spread scientific knowledge to younger students, and using the power of art to help relieve students’ negative emotions caused by the epidemic.

During the 2020 pandemic, under the guidance of teachers, SHSID student volunteers took advantage of their respective strengths to support iWill Volunteers Joint Action, which offers free online mental health counseling services for people in high-risk regions with 3,000 volunteers around the world. SHSID student volunteers worked together on preparing meeting minutes, compiling data, and making educational posters. This time in 2022, SHSID student volunteers regathered and devoted themselves to the epidemic prevention and control. During their spare time, volunteers carefully reviewed the videos of nearly 30 lectures, extracted the main content, and designed educational posters. Many students also took part in editing videos about interviews with volunteer leaders. The collective efforts made by SHSID students enabled these videos to look more professional and attracted wider attention. The public may listen to the voices of volunteers, comprehend the spirit of volunteering, and realize the significance of volunteering to the whole of society by watching these videos. Their performance was, again, highly praised by the organizers.

SciAcademy is a club dedicated to spreading science knowledge, passing meaning of science and spirit of exploration, and using science to help others. Due to the epidemic, club members cannot physically go to classrooms to hold lectures anymore. To make it possible for students to gain interesting knowledge during lockdown times, SciAcademy collaborated with Science Fair of the middle and primary school sections, as well as provided online lectures for middle and primary school students through Tencent Meeting. Club members prepared different lecture topics for primary school and middle school, respectively, and some of the topics included: (1) Why do people believe in horoscopes and cold reading? (2) Does heating destroy the nutrients of milk? Inspired by the online lectures, club members even held the SciAcademy Seminar—an activity for students to freely discuss, explore, and confide in, and invited the school teachers to provide professional suggestions and perspectives of adults that differ from the points of teenagers. Participants all revealed that they gained a more in-depth understanding of the topic and solved many real-life problems.

The stay-at-home lifestyle has not reduced students’ passion for music. Clubs including MCG Philharmonics, Sound of the Souls, Korean Janggu club, and Live2Drama regularly hold online club activities, and post numerous carefully recorded musical pieces on online platforms that are open to the public, hoping to help relieve the stress and provide sensational relaxation for audiences around the world.

The power of a beam of light may be limited, the gathering of thousands of light beams can eventually form a warm sun that illuminates every corner. We are so proud of you, SHSIDers!

(Written by 9(6) Tess Wang, 10(2) Sophie Yu, 10(11) Matthew Wang, 10(10) Don Zhao, 10(9) Amy Cheng, 10(10) Emily Kim, 10(8) Edouard Ji, 11(1) Victoria Zhang, 12(8) Nancy Zhang, 12(9) Sofia Li, 12(4) Grace Lo Video Clips by ASB 2022, Live2Drama Club Supervised by Meijun Shi, Hazel Gu, Menglei Wang, Sijia He Reviewed by Qian Zuo)