Everyday Heroes: Alaya Horne

She expressed the same worries and fears that adults had as they masked up, sheltered in place, and figured out how to work safely as uncertain days turned into months. In her world, Mom was no longer just Mom. She also was her guide through the new world of virtual learning.

“This is all very new for me. People panic and get really scared. I usually have a lot of hope. But sometimes it goes away,” Alaya, who is now 12, wrote in one diary entry.

“I’ve been FaceTiming my friends, trying to help all of us. I just know that we’re all going to be OK,” she confided in another.

Page after page, a story of innocence and wonderment unfolded. Each entry provided a reminder of what it’s like to see the world — no matter how crazy or uncertain — through the eyes of a child.

These days, Alaya is busy attending middle school, singing in two choirs, and learning to read and write Korean on the weekends.

Because of the pandemic and the quarantine, Alay’s diary went unnoticed by some of her friends and fellow students because she was at home and doing her classwork online.

“She was isolated from most of the attention,” her mother said.

But Alaya still beams when she recalls when her second-grade math teacher happily told the other students: “Everybody, she was in the newspaper. Everybody clap for her.”

“She was so awesome,” Alaya said of her teacher.

Today, she has no interest in keeping a diary. (Other than for an upcoming assignment over the holidays to help her learn Korean.)

“Writing in a diary reminds me of COVID,” Alaya said, “and I don’t want to be reminded of COVID.”

But the private thoughts she captured on paper will live on – forever.

Touched by Alaya’s diary, the Georgia Historical Society is including excerpts as part of its permanent COVID archives.

“When I grow up, I’ll be able to show my kids, and they’ll say, ‘Mommy, you were in the newspaper during a historic event, and I’m going to show my teachers,’” she said.

These days, life is very different for Alaya.

Most of the time now, when she picks up a pen, it’s to write a classroom essay. She still always has something to pontificate on, including her thoughts on political discussions in the classroom.

As for her desire to learn Korean, Alaya said it was inspired by K-pop, a popular style of music that includes a mix of genres, including rock-n-roll, hip-hop, and electronic music.

“I started watching videos where they speak Korean, and I said: ‘This is a very cool language. I need to learn this ASAP,’” she said.

K-pop is even part of her dreams for the future.

“I want to be a K-pop idol, and when our group disbands, I want to be either a marine biologist at SeaWorld for dolphins or an interior designer on HGTV,” Alaya said.

For now, though, she has made the typically hard transition this year to middle school much better than expected, her mother said.

And part of being more grown-up means getting back on track with plans to give away her extensive collection of about 50 stuffed animals. She has Yoshi, the dinosaur companion of Mario in Super Mario Brothers, in all colors.

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

Credit: Olivia Bowdoin

She had wanted to give them away at the start of the pandemic. But she decided to wait out all the restrictions and fears of spreading the virus.

This holiday season, she is ready to rehome her Yoshi at a children’s hospital, Horne said.

“They’ve been stuffed in a closet for a while,” Alaya said.

As for Alaya’s COVID diary, her mother remembers receiving messages from family members, teachers and the principal at Alaya’s school on how nice it was to see something positive emerge from the pandemic.

“Everyone seemed really delighted to see COVID through the eyes of a child because it took the edge off,” Shara Horne said. “It gave us a chance to stop overthinking and worrying, and just think about what a child could be thinking and feeling.

“I don’t think at the time that she knew her words were giving people hope or had any impact on the world.”