The year 2020 brought about the start of a new decade that no one was prepared for. From rumors about World War III to the Australian fires to the COVID-19 pandemic, intense events such as these happened all at the beginning of the year, leaving traumatic experiences and continuing to do so as 2021 begins.

From March 12th to the 14th of 2020, schools across the country began to shut down as cases began rising. Students were told to stay home for two weeks, later getting postponed to after spring break, then not coming back at all until next school year. Many students were excited for a long break from school, yet they would need to still attend school online which caused many conflicts with grades dropping and students not learning like they normally would.

“The beginning of quarantine was refreshing and gave me a break from school altogether,” says Junior Jalak Patel. “I felt very calm and I was able to figure out what was going on in my life.” 

Patel was asked how their school experience now is different from the beginning of the lockdown. “Having school during a pandemic was not what I hoped for and it is more draining than anything.” Patel continues on to explain her hopes for the final moments of her high school career: “I wanted to experience high school to its fullest but quarantine is making it impossible to do so. I feel like I am doing the same things over and over [again].”

With multiple countries being on lockdown, no travel to or from other countries was allowed. Stores, restaurants, bars, etc. got shut down for weeks keeping the majority of citizens stuck at home only being able to go to pharmacies and grocery stores. People were unemployed, and even those that were still employed, depending on their career, were at risk of getting the virus.

As people were quarantined, mental health became a huge crisis among people in the states. Those who previously were already dealing with mental health issues had a difficult time adjusting to the pandemic. As the pandemic continued, stress among people became common resulting in higher cases of mental illnesses.

During quarantine, an escape from all the problems going on in the world was very much needed. Entertainment was used among a large population of people, it gave opportunities to live through nostalgic moments through old films and tv shows. Yet, it enables exploration to discover new shows and films such as Tiger King, Money Hist, and so much more.

In the past year, there have been many protests of all different social issues. In the early summer of 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement was the most recognized due to all of the hate crimes towards black people. With the recognition of hate crimes on a variety of different platforms, the Black Lives Matter protests encouraged more people to speak out and come together as one.

The west coastal fires in California, Oregon, and Washington leaving thousands of people with no homes during the fall was another devastating moment. 

After a crazy year, everyone hoped things would get a bit better for 2021.

The coronavirus still continues to affect us to this day with cases lowering and with mandatory masks still being intact. As of late December 2020, COVID-19 vaccines have been released and thousands have already received their doses and will continue to run until everyone has received the vaccination. 

Students entering hybrid models gave the ability for children not to deal with the struggles of online classes, yet there are still a high number of students learning from home. DHS has been in hybrid for a few months, separating students into two different cohorts having each one attend classes in person for two days each week. As of March 17th, Wednesdays, originally being a remote learning day, was switch to in-person for those that chose hybrid. Some schools have even opened up completely allowing all their students to be in the building at the same time during school hours. 

Countries are more organized than they were at the start of the pandemic; having more structured plans and safety measures being put in place for people to do regular activities on a day-to-day basis.