The semester is reaching an end and with that summer is right around the corner. However, at this time I find myself thinking about Spring of 2020. I constantly have these memories flooding my brain of bonfires, walks, hours spent reading. I remember spending entire chunks of the day laying in my yard reading whichever books I could get my hands on. My mother and I had even gotten in the habit of ordering books for our favorite bookstore in New York City as a way to show support during the pandemic. There was also so much time spent cooking and baking. As someone who grew up not eating meals at the dinner table very often, it was a pleasant change having dinner with my mom and brother every single night. We would fully set the table, listen to jazz and have dessert after. I realized that we had this time only because of the pandemic. The forced time at the house gave me hours with my brother is something I otherwise would not have had as I was in high school at the time while he was at college four hours away.
There are many other things I have to thank COVID for. I would not have met two of my closest friends if I had not been forced to quarantine upon moving into college. When I was first put into quarantine I created a google meet for everyone quarantined on the same floor as me to be able to talk. I made note cards with the link and the meeting time and slipped them under every door. Nearly everyone on the floor came to the meeting and it was there that I met my friend Katelyn. To this day we are still extremely close friends and I cannot imagine my time at Manhattan College without her. It is through her that I met my best friend and that I have met so many other people.
As a result of online classes, I have been forced to reach out to people and branch out to people beyond just my major and my class. Because of this the majority of my friends are outside of my major and I can now look forward to meeting the rest of the people in my major next semester. All the experiences I have had as a result of the pandemic have helped me to grow and to become the person I am today, which I see as a silver lining. A lot of people look forward to the end of the pandemic, which I do of course, however, I think we can still be grateful for that which we did have despite it all. The world has learned to not take things for granted as everything is temporary.
When I was in middle school I spent my summer shut in the house, watching television or staring at my phone. This is something I cannot imagine myself doing ever again. Obviously, my age makes a difference, however, I do think that Americans have learned to appreciate being outside and having human interaction. Two weekends ago I went to Prospect Park with a friend of mine and truly I have never seen New Yorkers be so friendly and social. Despite all the heartache and trauma, we have experienced over the past year I think it is still possible to be hopeful. I believe that it is this idea of the world post-pandemic that everyone has in their mind that will push people to do better.