A Year of Covid-19
Summer Wadleigh
Covid-19 has provided the world with a very different way to measure time. Since its origin, people have been counting the days in which one could return to in person schooling or see a long distance family member again without the potential health risk. More than anything, Coronavirus has acted as a dangerous halt both physically and emotionally, evoking a vast array of change. Varying in intensity, everybody has had something taken from them within the last 365 days in the process of adjusting to a world where Coronavirus exists.
Since the virus first came to America, the most heavy loss has been seen in that of human life. In the last year, the United States has had over 500,000 Coronavirus related deaths, and that number only continues to increase with each passing day. Especially here in Florida, where we have the third highest case number in the country. While people are mourning experiences and memories that never got to exist outside of their imagination, other people have spent the last year in immense grief over someone close to them. Every loss is entirely valid and comes with a very specific set of emotions, though more than anything, Coronavirus has robbed the world of something irreplaceable: the human experience.
Aside from human life itself, Coronavirus has immensely affected those in transitional phases of their lives, such as students. I fall into this category myself, as I am senior in high school and have done the entirety of this year from my bedroom. Class of 2020 and class of 2021 have lost a lot of very valuable experiences due to Coronavirus, including things like graduation and senior prom. While these thing seem incredibly mundane in comparison to people who tested positive or those working on the frontlines to keep everyone safe, these are still important experiences that are being missed. It is such a specific and almost indescribable grief, and it’s hard to let yourself feel those things without simultaneously feeling selfish in knowing that other people are facing more important hardships. No matter how seemingly small, Coronavirus has inflicted change onto everybody this year in some way. It’s important to give yourself time to feel everything out and adjust to an entirely different reality while existing in such a transitional time in life.
Ultimately, any type of impactful loss occurring during this past year of Coronavirus falls into the grandness of the human experience. Whether it’s the loss of physical life or the loss of events that you had been looking forward to since you were a child, it is all so heavily reliant on human connection. Through the virus, we have lost so much of our usual opportunities to connect with one another. A decrease in morning commutes or hugging a friend while walking to your fourth period are so much more impactful than even I had initially thought. This past year has made me appreciate the reality of being human and desiring those seemingly regular interactions that are no longer so regular. While I know that there is a light waiting at the end of all of this, I hope that people can take at least one good thing from the tragedies of the last 365 days.