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August 15, 1914 A.D.<br />
The first ship sailed through the new canal across Panama today. It was an amazing sight to see the canal<br />
we’d been working on for the last ten years finally put into commission. I spent most of the time working as<br />
an engineer on the six locks of the canal. I have not been here the whole time of construction, and can only<br />
imagine what it must have felt like to see the ship sail by for the full -ime workers.<br />
June 28, 1915 A.D.<br />
Landslides have caused closures of the Panama Canal, and I wish the opening would not have to wait. I<br />
wanted to see the work we have all worked on for the past ten years finally opened, and now we just have<br />
to dig out all the dirt and rocks from the landslide. This isn’t the first one the canal has had recently, either.<br />
The canal is unstable, and I worry that it will collapse completely and all our hard work would have been for<br />
nothing. I can’t imagine how hard that would be on the people who worked there for ten full years, spending<br />
time risking their lives for the first two years when disease was spreading rapidly, not knowing if they would<br />
see their families again. I had it relatively easy compared to them during all those days of work.<br />
February 18, 1916 A.D.<br />
A war has begun that has ensnared the entire world. The canal opening has been postponed. I do not know<br />
how long it will be before this war ends, or if it will end at all. I just hope I will live through this war to see<br />
the opening of the canal, and that my son will not be drafted. This war will certainly change the world as we<br />
know it, no matter how it turns out. I just hope that it doesn’t also destroy it.<br />
July 12, 1920<br />
The war, now dubbed The Great War, has ended, the Germans have lost, and I have survived. The canal was<br />
officially opened today, as announced by President Woodrow Wilson. It was a moment of joy to me, and I<br />
can imagine the cheer of the still-surviving workers who worked on the canal, through all its hardships and<br />
pain, suffering and uncertainty. It was so joyous to me, and I can only imagine how they felt.<br />
Kyle Fisher<br />
7<br />
Caroline Hollander
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