As we all know, the coronavirus pandemic has been a major setback for our society. From the numerous loss of employment to virtual education, the coronavirus has made a big difference in our everyday routine. For students like myself, we have had to adapt to the new concept of virtual learning for the past five months as we have transitioned from classroom interactive settings to being taught at home through a computer. Victor Coro was diagnosed with autism at the age of three. He loves school and, with his likable personality, he has an amazing connection with the staff at his school. After elementary school, Victor was placed in a magnet program where he began making mini claymation films at the age of 8.
“During junior high school, Victor kept a 4.0 GPA and was the Valedictorian of the school,” his mother Maggie shared. Victor is now a rising junior at Downtown Magnets High School in Downtown Los Angeles. He loves history classes because he enjoys learning new things about past generations and cultures around the world. Before the pandemic, Victor had a very punctual schedule and learned to love the routine he had created.
“He arrived at school at 6:15 a.m. every morning, always being the first student on campus,” said his mother. Victor is also an amazing artist and one of the cartoonists for his school newspaper.
During my interview with Victor he shared that, along with his love for academic classes, Victor loves art, specifically cartoons and animations. Some of his inspirations are Spongegebob, Garfield, and Peanuts.
“When I was young I always liked to draw stick figure characters. During summer school during my elementary years, one of my teachers was tired of how students expressed their drawings through stick figures. He then taught me how to draw real characters with shapes such as ovals and circles,” Victor said.
Victor is also a cartoonist for his school’s newspaper, and he has loved the wonderful experience that this extracurricular has given him. His favorite cartoons are Spongebob and Loud House.
‘Oh Leni!” drawing by Victor displaying The Loud House fan art.
“I am a huge fan of the Loud House because it resembles comic strip culture very well. I actually draw Loud House fanart as well!” said Victor. “I wish to be a professional cartoonist for a big newspaper, and potentially draw and create storyboards for the Loud House show if it is still a thing”. Aside from his love of art and animation, Victor also enjoys old technology such as VHS and DVDs. Self-taught, Victor collects and archives various TV shows on VHS tapes such as the Brady Bunch, The Fugitives and Happy Days.
“Watching these old shows and movies bring me happiness and always make me laugh,” Victor said.
Victor expressed that he likes to refer to the coronavirus as the ‘cough-cough.’
“Once the cough-cough became a big thing, it was really stressful for me to adapt to virtual learning. I would sometimes cry at the fact of how much this has impacted myself and those around my community,” Victor sadly said. “One of my biggest barriers was adapting to the new form of test-taking. It was hard to deal with the disorganization of classes as well as studying for various classes all at the same time.” He then began to reminisce on life before the cough-cough and what he missed from his normal daily routine.
“The thing I miss most is walking. Being able to walk to the bus stop to and from school every day always prepared me for the day,” he said. Over the past months, we have had to get used to wearing a mask wherever we want to go. Victor said that he doesn’t like to walk around with a mask due to discomfort.
“All of this makes me feel like this world has gone insane.”
Victor explained his gratitude toward all of the people working in hospitals, like his mother, an ICU nurse at UCLA.
“I find it brave of my mom when she walks into the house every day with her mask and goggles. I don’t know how she is able to do it. She is truly a miracle worker and everything she does she does well,” Victor said.