2020 A Year Of New Perspective

Taking things for granted was so simple before 2020. Whether it was spending holidays with all your family, traveling to your favorite beach town for the summer or simply walking into a grocery store without struggling to breathe through your mask. The year 2020 has been a disaster for so many but also one of the largest learning experiences most of us will have. I have personally learned quite a few lessons this year that I will continue to live by. Three things that 2020 has taught me is to prioritize school and understand the privilege I have when going to school, I have learned to cherish my family as well as my friends, and lastly, I have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from the Black Lives Matter event that has taken off during quarantine.

Last school year in the spring of 2020 me and my roommates prepared for our weeklong spring break. We deep cleaned each of our rooms and bathroom and checked off each box of the safety checklist given out by the dorm building preparing to leave. We packed a weeks’ worth of clothes and belonging into a few bags each and got on the road to our hometown. As I stepped out of my dorm room door and let it close behind me until I heard the familiar sound of it latching and I took a deep breath. The relief was setting in that I had one whole week off. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit turning that one week into two which turned into three and so on.

After a few weeks home my parents and I made the trip back to my dorm to officially move out. We entered my dorm building, here was hand sanitizer everywhere and tension building as everyone filed through listening to the rundown. We were told we had just under an hour to collect all my belongings and pack them in the car. With we grabbed a cart and headed to room 219. I slipped my key card in the door for the last time saw the signal light up green and turned the handle. The door swung open; I laid eyes on my untouched, perfectly clean room. All I could think was that I wasn’t ready to move out of this place and I would be saying my last goodbye in less than one hour. We started stripping my bed, ripping down my picture and posters from the wall, and emptying the closet. As me and my mom packed each personal item into storage bins my dad was running them back and forth to the car. It was only about 40 minutes until the room was bare and I was getting flashbacks to move in day which felt like yesterday. It was such an odd feeling having my first year of college cut short with almost no notice. It felt as though life was moving so quickly and I had no other option then to be along for the ride.

I felt like the new casters practically lived in my house at this point with how often their voices were being played through the house. My parents were adjusting to working from home and I was adjusting to virtual schooling. For the longest time I was loving online school. Each day I would wake up pop downstairs to grab a cold glass of water and a nutritious breakfast, head back upstairs and cuddle up with my dog in the coziest blanket we could find and get ready for class. I found it so much less stressful. However, when the fall 2020 semester hit my mind totally changed. I had to hold myself fully accountable for every class and every assignment and I truly struggled with this. I find myself completely forgetting about assignments or upcoming tests etc. Before this pandemic I fully took for granted how helpful it is to be in in person classes and have guidance through all the classes you take. I also took for granted the interaction with my teacher and classmates. This year has taught me how thankful I should be to have the opportunity to one go to college and two live at school and get an education that so many others would ache for.

Quarantine or full lockdown only came shortly after moving out of school for the semester. A day of quarantine for me did not consist of too much. I would wake up try my best to get all my schoolwork done, make lunch, go on a run, or walk, have dinner, and lastly relax and watch a show or YouTube each night. Before lockdown I was such a busy body. I was constantly out with friends, shopping, or exploring. My family and I never set aside time to spend quality time with each other. However once quarantine came, I would hear once a day “family walk!” as my mom yelled it from downstairs. When this first started I would get out of my bed reluctantly change out of my pajamas brush my hair and stop down the steps to head out the door. Occasionally I would give my parents an eye roll or an attitude in hopes they wouldn’t make me go however my mom would never give in. I came to love these walks especially when we went to the now trail on the water we found. Quarantine forced us to spend time together as a family and I am so thankful for that. I took for granted all the quality time I could have spent with them in the past years, and definitely will not roll my eyes next time they announce family walk time.

On the other side of that I was unable to see my friends for months on end. Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, I was with my six best friends every single day. We have been friends since the beginning of middle school and have grown to be like sisters more than anything. Once quarantine hit, we were using our phone to communicate everyday all day. Our group facetime was a highlight of my day each day. The laughter that came from this facetime was one that was unmatched. We would usually get on after dinner and talk until the sun went down and for hours after. We sent hundreds of tik toks to each other and made a few too, raved about new shows, and gave each other ideas to keep ourselves busy. Not seeing them for such a substantial portion of my 2020 allowed me to appreciate them so much more and cherish each memory and moment we spend together.

Social media was a huge part in 2020 for so many people. Although social media is not always the best for mental health it was a way to stay connected with extended family and friends while in quarantine. Social media was my way to stay busy while being stuck in my house and a way to simply pass time. During quarantine, the death of George Floyd started circulation on every social media platform I use. I remember sitting in my room just finishing up a test, I grabbed my phone and went to check my social media. I opened Instagram and saw that almost every post was about “George Floyds Death”, I opened snap chat. The same thing occurred for each platform I opened. I quickly went to safari and straight to the news. As I read the first article and video that popped up, I remember my heart sinking. I shut my laptop, got up from my bed and approached my parents in the kitchen. They had already heard the news and I remember my dad saying to me “pretty messed up right?” I nodded. We spoke about the situation over the dinner they had just prepared. Just like since the beginning of quarantine the news was still on but this time they were speaking about the death of George Floyd and not the coronavirus pandemic for the first time in months.

I found it to be a perfect time for myself and others to educate themselves on the current situation having to do with Floyd’s death. Soon after the Black Lives Matter Movement really took off and was being spoken about everywhere leaving the opportunity to become increasingly educated. There could not have been a better time for this movement to take place. Everyone’s attention was on social media and there was no way around being educated about BLM. This movement was just another event in 2020 that will go down in history. It provided me with so much knowledge and a new outlook on life after reading endless articles and posts from so many diverse people and views and I know it did the same for so many around me.

Over 2020 has been the craziest year of my life and I am sure of so many others. There was curveball after curveball. Although this year was an absolute mess there were so many learning experiences and lessons to take from it. The three things that I am taking away from 2020 is appreciate my education more, appreciate my family and friends and every moment we get to spend with each other, and the importance of the Black Lives Matter movement and the importance of learning new knowledge every day to stay educated. The year 2020 was a huge challenge, and with challenges comes lessons. The lessons I have learned this year are ones that I will carry with me for all the years to come. I have a new perspective on life and don’t want to ever find myself taking things for granted again.