In Prague, where I am from, we got into lockdown at the beginning of March in 2020. At first, I remembered that we hoped this situation would last for about 2 weeks and then we would come back to normal life, as it always was with other illnesses such as the flu season in Prague, but that was not the case.
The things I want to mention in this article are probably ones that have happened to many students all over the world, not just me, but I still want to share how the pandemic affected my school and college experience.
We hoped to get back to school at the beginning of April since we were all seniors at high school and wanted to plan our graduation and prom.
It ended up that we went to school for a few days in May, with the rest of it being all online. I remember looking forward to my senior year as students always get to do a prank day at school, sleepovers, and the prom. I know I’m not the only one who did not get to experience these things as well and sadly, because of the pandemic, there was nothing we could do about it; even with having hoped to the very last minute that at the end it may have all worked out.
Luckily we got to get at least our high school graduation that happened on our school football field instead of a nice palace in the center of Prague since no events could be held indoors. Due to the pandemic rules, we could have only brought three people to our graduation, so most of my family did not even get to see me graduate or enjoy the prom that we have been waiting for since forever. In the end, I was still trying to stay positive and grateful that our graduation did not end up being online as well. That is what I will still sometimes feel sad about – that I did not get to have traditional graduation or prom which happens only once for us.
After we were done with high school and hoped that the pandemic would be over soon by the summer, there was another challenge waiting for me. I always planned to study in the US and with the pandemic happening, there was a very low chance that international students would be allowed to come to the US and arrive on time for the move-in day. I already was prepared that I would be able to come to the US for the spring semester in January this year, but at the very last minute the US embassy in Prague opened and I was able to get my student visa only a week before I had to leave to the US in order to be in required quarantine for two weeks before move-in-day. I remember everything being chaotic as I had to pack my stuff quickly and be prepared to travel from Europe to the US for the first time alone since my parents weren’t allowed to come with me. It was a scary experience but it definitely helped me to get more independent as I was responsible for myself and to get to the US safely.
During normal times, my family and I would travel to the US pretty often. My parents planned to visit me many times while I was in college, but because of the pandemic, they did not get to come here for a year because of the travel ban which still does not allow Europeans to come to the US.
I hope that the pandemic will be over soon and we will all be able to come back to normal life and that traveling will be soon more safe and free. It’s been a definitely hard year but hopefully, in the year 2021, better days are coming.