From the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to police injustices and a major presidential election, 2020 was an exciting year to say the least. But the thing that made last year so devastating was the unexpectedness of it all. Nobody could predict what was coming. Nobody knew what would happen. 

There is no denying that last year brought so many challenges. However, it wasn’t a challenge for everybody, since it affected each person differently. People that were more introverted probably first enjoyed the isolation that was brought with the first wave of COVID-19. Soon though, people changed. Even the introverts were not able to take being alone with nothing to do cooped up in their rooms all day anymore. I was one of those people.

Being in quarantine changed almost every aspect of my life and my way of thinking. Before, I could be left alone with nothing to do and was completely fine. In fact, I would be thrilled and look forward to that time. But doing that for so long made me a completely different person. It made me and many others rely on other people more than we would have liked originally. 

I was one of the people COVID-19 affected negatively. Some people were not affected negatively, in fact the isolation had an opposite effect on them. 

People either lost or gained from this year. Many had more time to do the things they love or develop hobbies they weren’t able to focus on before with regular school and work. 

Through everything, one thing is the same. Last year was a dumpster fire of events that changed all of our lives. But this year offers hope for new beginnings and a possibility for life to go back to as we knew it before COVID-19. Without all the chaos, without all the excitement and stress. Just something normal.