How it all began…
It was a partly sunny Friday afternoon on March 13, 2020. With a high of 70℉ and a low of 45℉, the world was turning, students had just been let out of school, and the thought “it’ll only be for two weeks” was on everyone’s mind…only to find ourselves in a completely different world just days later.
Now on a sunny Saturday morning on March 13, 2021, we sit here with a high of 52℉ and a low of 33℉. Everyone’s worlds seemingly frozen on a random Tuesday, restaurants and other venues finally reaching a 35% capacity, masked faces everywhere you look and every man, woman, and child thinking “it can’t seriously have been a full year?!!”
What has quarantine done to us?
A lot can change in a year: lifestyles, mindsets, even hairstyles – yea I’m looking at you, all you guys who grew quarantine mustaches/beards… don’t think I forgot about the quarantine bangs either (yes I did fall victim to that one as well). Surprisingly, however, a lot of people reported that besides school life, not much had changed besides their newfound enjoyment of “me” time.
Light at the end of the tunnel? More like in the middle of it, some of our favorite times during quarantine have been the big moments, the little moments, and everything in between. Some of my favorite responses when asked about your favorite moments have been “getting to watch my son grow” – (that’s adorable); “Playing Minecraft til 3 AM” [and] Getting a girlfriend. But playing Minecraft till 3 AM tops it.” – Little bit of relationship advice: don’t tell her that.
Many lessons can be learned from being quarantined. For instance, I learned I can listen to my brother talk about WWI tanks for about 10 minutes before I lose my mind. Life lessons can be as simple as learning to do the laundry or as groundbreaking as learning to “find a few friends that actually care. You don’t need the whole grade to like you.” A fantastic answer my good sir/madam and what a powerful lesson to learn too. As the saying goes “7/10 people won’t like you, 1 will, and 2 just. won’t. care.” Learning to find those who can bring meaning and joy into your life is far more important than having everyone be your friend.
To fix mistakes, meet cool dead people, or even say that perfect comeback you thought of an hour after you had that argument, going back in time is always on our minds. Given the chance to go back to one year ago on March 13, 2020, what would we say to ourselves? Now my initial thoughts were to tell that naïve girl “put down the scissors honey, bangs aren’t it” but all of you thought far more profoundly than me.
What would you tell yourself if you could go back in time?
“Do things that scare you socially. It may be scary but it’ll be good to push yourself outside of your comfort zone”
“Don’t stay up all night playing video games”
“Be your own best friend” – THAT’S RIGHT LOVE YO SELF
“Take it one day at a time”
“Progress is progress no matter how big or small” – FACTS.
Looking to the future…
“COVID’S OVER! Life’s back to normal.” Oh, how I wish for those words to be broadcast on every news outlet and social media platform in big bright letters. If we keep safe, continue to follow the rules and push through, it might soon become more than a wish. For now, we can dream of that day and our first moments as a COVID-free country. Most people have declared their first actions will be to “RID THYSELF OF THY MASK!”, while others take a less enthusiastic route and simply wish for the return to normal schooling procedures. Personally, I have the strong urge to go to Build-A-Bear with my friends – why? I’m not really sure either.
In any case, there is no denying that it has been a full year since COVID began. At times it was rough and at others it was down right hilarious, but all in all it’s been an experience that none of us are bound to forget.
Editor’s Note: All responses given for the creation of this article were amazing. Thank you so much to everyone who participated!
Honorable mention to the kid that answered every question in the survey by talking about BEANS.
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