Happy.. New Year??
In the moment, it felt like we were just entering another year. New resolutions, new opportunities. Another shot at being the best versions of ourselves.
As the bottles of champagne popped, and the sound of everyone around the world counting down “10,9,8,7,6…” To the final “Happy New Year!” We were off to a great start.
What happened?
2020 was a plot twist that no one could have ever predicted. January 9th, just days after celebrating the new year, the World Health Organization announced an unknown virus that traced back all the way to Wuhan, China. At the time, people didn’t seem too concerned. “Great, another virus” was what myself and many others said. Let’s face it. Every year there is a new virus that surfaces, only to go away after a few weeks, maybe months.
We ignored it.
As the weeks went by, people continued to go about life as usual. Attending birthday parties, weddings, and college students were enjoying college the best way they can. Partying and attending university events. Crowds gathered and things seemed to be fine in those moments.
Until January 21st, 2020.
The CDC reports and confirms the first Coronavirus case in the United States. The same day, Zhong Nanshan, MD confirms that the newly discovered COVID-19 can be transferred from person to person. I know what you’re thinking. “The flu works the same, so what should we worry about?” As the days went by, people continued to live life normally. Again, a virus was something people were often used to, so why act any differently?
Before I knew it, I was heading back to campus after Spring Break, packing up my dorm room, and saying goodbye to the campus that I was finally starting to call home. It was scary. This was starting feel like “not just a virus”. Things were starting to change. States and countries were shutting down, people were dying. What happened?
In the midst of what was considered a deadly virus, the world was mourning the deaths of many black men and women at the hands of the police. While people were encouraged to stay in their homes in order to avoid spreading the virus, crowds around the world were gathering to protest for the death of George Floyd, a man who was killed on May 25, 2020. He was 46 years old.
The world was starting to crumble.
As we enter October and are slowing reaching the end of what felt like a year of nothing but nightmares, I can’t help but think about what 2021 is going to have in store for us. If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that life is not planned nor promised.
So… What are your plans for December 31, 2020?
References
The New York Times. “What We Know About the Death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 8 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/article/george-floyd.html.
Price, Polly J. A Coronavirus Quarantine in America Could Be a Giant Legal Mess. 4 May 2020, www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/02/coronavirus-quarantine-america-could-be-giant-legal-mess/606595/.
