2020 Reflection

        I called it. Well, at least a part of it. A rather big part, however. See, I did not have any high expectations for this year, in fact, I looked down on it. I never really got excited for new years and would not expect anything remotely special from them. And this year being twenty-twenty, I had said a large pandemic would happen. I said this a bit carelessly though; I did not actually think it would be this bad, I suppose. I announced this claim after realizing that on every something-twenty year, a large pandemic would arise. And it did. But everything happened gradually.

        I remember, the first day of 2020 or so, the Australian Bushfires got extremely bad. Adults were saddened (as was everyone else of course), but many of us teens immediately counted it as the first catastrophe of 2020. Not even a week after, the possible world War three panic happened. Again, many of us made jokes and memes about it all. We were worried but careless at the same time. I guess it was a coping mechanism.

        A ton of more things happened after. Everything seemed to pile up. Many scandals, celebrity deaths, natural disasters, and protests all happened. Some things not as impactful as others, however. For example, Prince Harry quitting the royal family,  the impeachment trials for Donald Trump, the stock market crash, Kim Jong Un death rumors, the murder hornets, the Beirut explosion, California fires, Ruth Ginsburgs death, and many more. Two celebrity deaths that had a huge impact were the passing of the legendary Kobe Bryant and his daughter in a helicopter crash, which happened in the beginning of 2020, and the passing of the legendary actor, Chadwick Boseman, after losing his silent battle to colon cancer.

        A prime moment, however, in this year, was Joe Biden winning the election. The election was a stressful period of time, and it was reliving to finally have Trump out of the presidency. Also, the BLM protests (and also other protests for all groups of people). Following the death of the innocent George Floyd, 2020 became a fight for true justice and equality in the States. This year, all groups of people were recognized and fought for. All of this became a global movement. All over the media, people protested, recognized all individuals, and countries in need. It was a year of representation and justice.

        And of course, the pandemic, COVID-19. Starting out small, in a town in China, then spreading slowly all over the world. The Coronavirus was the biggest part of 2020. We experienced global lockdowns. Everyone has to wear masks at all times outdoors. Everyone is missing out on normal activities that they would do in a year. And many people, including myself, are missing out on their graduations (mine was for middle school).

The pandemic has affected everyone, and it's still going on. Thankfully, a vaccine has come out. But due to the virus, I have missed out on the end of my 8th grade year and the first half of my freshman year (so far). Personally, being quarantined was not that bad for me, but it still had its effects. 2021 starts in a couple days, and I hope it will all turn out better. But there's also a chance that it could be worse. One things for certain though, things won’t go back to to “normal” for a while. But oh well, it is what it is, right?

By Mary Ayata