unMASKed Pandemic Stories:
Reflections from Youth
Around the World

The COVID-19 pandemic has touched the lives of nearly every person on the planet.

This period is remarkable in that it may be the first time ever that people all around the world are confronting the same issue simultaneously. And today’s digital, interconnected world has enabled us not only to connect virtually to those that we love, but it has given us a portal through which we can share and witness the experiences of strangers around the world.

And in a world full of differences and divisions, the pandemic has become an opportunity to identify our commonalities and learn from one another as we face the same challenges. Youth — people as young as age 13 through their 20s — are in a unique spot. Your clear memories and your experiences of the pandemic will live on the longest. You and your peers will decide how the pandemic will come to define your generation, and how you will respond in these uncertain times. You have the opportunity to decide how you internalize and grow in response to the new skills, new experiences, and new challenges you have faced throughout the pandemic, and which you may likely continue to encounter afterwards.

This StoryMap is a window onto the personal reflections of youth around the world who are adjusting to life during the pandemic. You come from different countries, from different walks of life, and you share different stories. These stories make you you — they make you unique — but it is also these stories that reveal what you have in common. They may inspire you to make new choices; they may remind you that you are not in this alone; and hopefully they will remind you that you have a generation beside you.