An Unexpected Year

Dear Diary:

2020. A year no one thought would be so…Hm, what’s the word? Unpleasant. A year we all thought would be a nice new beginning because of the new decade. Yet, it wasn’t.

We expected none of this. So many deaths, so many weird events, so many conspiracies, so many riots, so much anger, depression rising, streets closing, nobody is going outside, face covering 24/7. The whole world had to make a change for the pandemic.

There is no way that even I can go back to the person I was before March 13. Some will say that COVID changed them for the better or for the worse. Some will say they realized more things about themselves that they didn’t know before the virus. Spending time with yourself–for what, 100+ days?–can mentally and emotionally change someone.

Protesting and looting occurred, social media jumped crazy with white supremacy and Black Lives Matter comments. Now there have been major losses during this pandemic. By losses, I mean lives. Many, many lives were taken from this pandemic and from humans themselves. Not only are we dying by diseases, we (as in African Americans) are still dying in the hands of the police in our own community. Then, we have to deal with a president who overlooks this and supports the racist police system that his government has created.

We still live in the 60’s in 2020. Yet, no matter how hard it has gotten for us Americans, we’re still keeping faith.

—Alexis Carter, Junior

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This piece was contributed by a member of the community to be a part of our Pandemic Diary, a place for writers to share snippets, memories or perspectives of their experience during the COVID pandemic.

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