Remember when people were saying, “2020 is gonna be my year”? Or that “I’m gonna start fresh in 2020”? Those days are now long behind us, but even going into the year 2021, 2020 gave us all battle scars that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives. The war that Covid-19 waged on us brought forth other battles like BLM, LGBTQ+, and Asian hate. Covid-19 will be in our memories for now and forever.

At its peak, Covid-19 revealed to us things that we all thought were dead and gone. In essence, they were just lying dormant, just waiting for the perfect moment to rise. BLM protests, LGBTQ+ equality protests, and Asian hate crimes all rose during Covid-19’s eruption. These events have significantly changed people on a personal level. Neshaminy students Zach Murphy, CJ Nieves, and Lindsay Binder were interviewed about their thoughts and experiences about how Covid-19 has affected their daily lives.

“Covid showed me that there are good people and bad people both who want to stand up for what they believe in. [Covid] really showed how people are struggling,” Murphy said

 “How I see the world is that people deep inside have hate for no reason at all. Asian hate is unnecessary because people started beating them up randomly, and it brought out how people truly are. It felt like it became a trend,” Nieves said. 

Whether people realize it or not, Covid-19 showed people where their true loyalties lie. It showed how people truly feel about these groups of people and exposed the facade in people. 

That was just the beginning, just a mere taste. What about the lingering effects and what it’s done to people? There are people who have seen their lives take a 360 because of Covid-19, and now their view on life has changed.

“I go to therapy now because of Covid. When I started to go to therapy, I was suicidal, and therapy showed me that life is worth living,” Binder stated. “Covid completely changed me this year and saw me coming back as a completely different person with a different personality, and we’ve all been through a lot this year.”

The roadblocks that were created by Covid-19 were both disappointing for some and devastating for many. People who wanted to go to new places that they’ve always dreamed of traveling to were stripped away from them. People couldn’t even visit loved ones, friends, or family. 

“My freshman year was blocked due to Covid-19, and it hurt my whole experience. It didn’t feel like I had the freshman experience,” Nieves said. 

“I couldn’t start my jazz band, and it only started a few months ago. Covid didn’t really affect many opportunities aside from my jazz band,” Murphy said.  

We were robbed of many things because of Covid-19. It divided us, it conquered us, and there was a point where we thought we had lost. However, all Covid-19 did was give a learning opportunity. We suffered many hard losses but, we never gave up. We adapted and are now on our way back to the way things used to be, how they should be. 

“Covid showed me to be more ready to adapt to things,” Murphy stated. “Along with being ready for things because, in order to be successful, you have to adapt.” 

“For me, I’m not very good at adapting but, Covid did teach me how to be more distant and patient while also learning how to adapt to new things”.

Life is all about change for better or worse. Things change and won’t be the same forever, but when those things happen, all we can do is adapt. From things as massive as Covid-19 to things as small as a new phone. When things change for better or worse, we both learn and change with the new. 

8th-grade student Josh Martin went to go back to school, understanding the risk of doing so. Even while knowing the risks of coming back, he prefers to see the bright side of coming back 5 days a week.

“I may not be at the high school, but I do know that being back in school has done wonders for me. I get to see my friends and actually feel involved along with the fact that my grades have skyrocketed with more in-person learning,” Martin mentioned. “It has its difficulties, but they’re worth it if I get to be back in school and see my friends, both old and new.”